Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

सारमेय समारूढान्करिहस्तान्समेखलान् । खङ्गखेटकहस्तांश्च डमरुड्डामरस्वनान्

Transliteration

sārameya samārūḍhānkarihastānsamekhalān | khaṅgakheṭakahastāṃśca ḍamaruḍḍāmarasvanān

Translation

Berkuda di atas anjing, bertangan laksana tangan gajah, berikat pinggang; memegang pedang dan perisai, bergema dengan hiruk bunyi gendang ḍamaru—

Word by Word

• सारमेय: dog-like / of dogs (Sārameya)
• सारमेय: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सारमेय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन (समास/समूहस्य विशेषण)

• समारूढान्: mounted
• समारूढान्: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम् + आ + रुह् (धातु) → समारूढ (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; ‘mounted/ascended’

• करिहस्तान्: elephant-trunks / elephant-hands
• करिहस्तान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: करि + हस्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (करिणः हस्ताः)

• समेखलान्: girdled / wearing belts
• समेखलान्: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स + मेखला (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; उपपद-तत्पुरुष/बहुव्रीह्यर्थे ‘with a girdle’ (मेखलया सह)

• खङ्गखेटकहस्तान्: having swords and shields in their hands
• खङ्गखेटकहस्तान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: खङ्ग + खेटक + हस्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष (खङ्ग-खेटकयोः हस्ताः / खङ्गखेटकौ हस्तयोः यस्य)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• डमरु: small drum (ḍamaru)
• डमरु: Sambandha (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: डमरु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन (समासपूर्वपद)

• डामरस्वनान्: with the sound of ḍāmara (drum)
• डामरस्वनान्: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: डामर + स्वन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष (डामरस्य स्वनः)

Speaker

Narrator (descriptive passage; likely describing attendants/guardians)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kṣetrapāla-sthāna of Vastrāpatha-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A terrifying yet sacred troop of guardians appears: dog-mounted figures with elephantine hands, belts, swords and shields, beating ḍamarus that thunder across the precinct—an apotropaic spectacle at the kṣetra’s edge.

Characters & Entities

• Kṣetrapāla/attendant figures (implied)
• Ḍamaru

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred sites are protected by powerful guardian forces; their fierce forms symbolize the removal of obstacles and threats to dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The protective entourage associated with Vastrāpatha Kṣetra in Prabhāsa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse provides iconographic and auditory markers (ḍamaru-sounds) associated with guardian worship.