Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 41

Devanagari script

प्राणायामस्त्वयं प्रोक्तः प्रत्याहारं ततः शृणु । विषयेषु प्रवृत्तस्य चेतसो विनिवर्तनम्

Transliteration

prāṇāyāmastvayaṃ proktaḥ pratyāhāraṃ tataḥ śṛṇu | viṣayeṣu pravṛttasya cetaso vinivartanam

Translation

ထို့ကြောင့် ပရာဏာယာမ (prāṇāyāma) ကို ရှင်းလင်းပြီးပြီ။ ယခု ပရတျာဟာရ (pratyāhāra) ကို နားထောင်လော့။ ၎င်းသည် အာရုံဝတ္ထုများသို့ ထွက်ပြေးသွားသော စိတ်ကို ပြန်လည်ဆုတ်ခွာစေခြင်း ဖြစ်သည်။

Word by Word

• प्राणायामः: prāṇāyāma
• प्राणायामः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणायाम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• तु: now/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात; विशेष/विरोधार्थक

• अयम्: this
• अयम्: Karta (Co-referent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• प्रोक्तः: has been stated
• प्रोक्तः: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + वच् (धातु) → प्रोक्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्यय (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘has been stated’

• प्रत्याहारम्: pratyāhāra (withdrawal)
• प्रत्याहारम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रत्याहार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• ततः: then, thereafter
• ततः: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: तस्मात्/अनन्तरं इत्यर्थे अव्यय (thereafter/from that)

• शृणु: listen
• शृणु: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन

• विषयेषु: in sense-objects
• विषयेषु: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विषय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), बहुवचन

• प्रवृत्तस्य: of (a mind) engaged/turned toward
• प्रवृत्तस्य: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्र + वृत् (धातु) → प्रवृत्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुं/नपुंसक-सम्भव, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; ‘चेतसः’ इति विशेषणम्

• चेतसः: of the mind
• चेतसः: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चेतस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन

• विनिवर्तनम्: withdrawal, turning back
• विनिवर्तनम्: Karma/Predicate-noun (Definition/कर्म-निर्देश)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वि + नि + वृत् (धातु) → विनिवर्तन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; लक्षण/परिभाषा-रूपेण

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta) to the sages (deduced)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A yogin seated with senses symbolized as five horses being gently reined in; the mind depicted as a bird returning to the heart-lotus; arrows labeled ‘viṣaya’ turned back.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

After regulating breath, the yogin must withdraw the mind from sense-objects—this is pratyāhāra.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None is mentioned; the focus is on the inner limb of yoga.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A sequential practice is implied: prāṇāyāma first, then pratyāhāra (mental withdrawal).