Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 11

Devanagari script

ततो जातिस्मरो राजा प्रभासक्षेत्रमागतः । तत्रायतनं ध्वजाजालसमन्वितम्

Transliteration

tato jātismaro rājā prabhāsakṣetramāgataḥ | tatrāyatanaṃ dhvajājālasamanvitam

Translation

तेव्हा पूर्वजन्मस्मृती लाभलेला राजा प्रभासक्षेत्री आला. तेथे ध्वज व जाळ्यासारख्या अलंकारांनी युक्त असे पवित्र आयतन त्याने पाहिले.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• jāti-smaraḥ: remembering past births
• jāti-smaraḥ: Karta (Qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jāti (प्रातिपदिक) + smara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (जातिं स्मरति इति) ‘one who remembers (past) births’

• rājā: the king
• rājā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा, एकवचन

• prabhāsa-kṣetram: the Prabhāsa sacred region
• prabhāsa-kṣetram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhāsa (प्रातिपदिक) + kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे द्वितीया, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (प्रभासस्य क्षेत्रम्)

• āgataḥ: came, arrived
• āgataḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्तः—क्त (past participle) with ā-; पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘having come’

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (locative adverb)

• āyatanam: a shrine, abode
• āyatanam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āyatana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे द्वितीया/प्रथमा, एकवचन (context suggests object/description)

• dhvaja-jāla-samanvitam: endowed with a cluster of banners
• dhvaja-jāla-samanvitam: Karma (Object-qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dhvaja (प्रातिपदिक) + jāla (प्रातिपदिक) + samanvita (कृदन्त—क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे द्वितीया/प्रथमा, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—‘dhvaja-jāla’ (net/cluster of banners) + ‘samanvita’ (endowed with) qualifying āyatanam

Speaker

Śiva (continuing narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (specific āyatana introduced)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A king with a contemplative, awakened gaze enters Prabhāsa-kṣetra; before him rises a shrine (āyatana) with tall dhvajas (flags) and a lattice/net of festoons or mesh-like ornamentation, suggesting a festival-ready sanctum near the sea-breeze.

Characters & Entities

• Prabhāsa-kṣetra
• jātismara (past-life memory)
• āyatana (shrine)
• dhvaja
• jāla

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred places awaken remembrance and insight; the pilgrim recognizes divine markers and karmic continuity through jātismaratā.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra, a foremost Śaiva tīrtha in Saurāṣṭra, praised extensively in the Skanda Purāṇa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is stated; the verse emphasizes arrival (tīrtha-yātrā) and darśana of the shrine’s auspicious emblems.