Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 82

Devanagari script

गौरी कन्या प्रधाना वै मध्यमा कन्यका मता । रोहिणी तत्समा ज्ञेया अधमा च रजस्वला

Transliteration

gaurī kanyā pradhānā vai madhyamā kanyakā matā | rohiṇī tatsamā jñeyā adhamā ca rajasvalā

Translation

‘गौरी’ कन्या श्रेष्ठ मानली आहे; ‘कन्यका’ मध्यम; ‘रोहिणी’ तिच्यासमान जाणावी; आणि ‘रजस्वला’ अधम मानली आहे.

Word by Word

• gaurī: Gaurī (name/type)
• gaurī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gaurī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

• kanyā: a maiden
• kanyā: Predicate nominative (समानााधिकरण/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kanyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• pradhānā: principal, foremost
• pradhānā: Predicate qualifier (विधेय-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pradhāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण (adjective)

• vai: indeed
• vai: Discourse particle
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle/emphasis)

• madhyamā: middle, intermediate
• madhyamā: Predicate qualifier (विधेय-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: madhyama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• kanyakā: a young girl
• kanyakā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kanyakā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• matā: is considered
• matā: Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √man (मन्) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय) → mata (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle)

• rohiṇī: Rohiṇī (name/type)
• rohiṇī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rohiṇī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• tatsamā: equal to that
• tatsamā: Predicate qualifier (विधेय-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + samā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (तत्-समा = तस्य समा)

• jñeyā: should be known (as)
• jñeyā: Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √jñā (ज्ञा) + ya (णीय/यत्-प्रत्यय; भाव्य/कर्तव्य) → jñeya (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विधिलिङ्गार्थक-कर्तव्यता (gerundive: 'to be known')

• adhamā: lowest, inferior
• adhamā: Predicate qualifier (विधेय-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: adhama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• ca: and
• ca: Connector
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• rajasvalā: menstruating woman
• rajasvalā: Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: rajasvalā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Prabhāsa-kṣetra Māhātmya narrative style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A schematic, almost iconographic depiction: four labeled maiden archetypes presented as a teaching chart in a sage’s discourse, with Prabhāsa’s sacred horizon behind.

Characters & Entities

• Gaurī
• Rohiṇī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The tradition frames life-stages and bodily states within dharma categories to guide saṃskāras and ritual propriety.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra is the wider Māhātmya context, where such dharma guidance is embedded within tīrtha discourse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct rite is commanded; the verse provides a classification used to determine appropriateness for saṃskāras/ritual contexts.