Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

नैरृत्यां च तथा माया अयोध्या पश्चिमे स्थिताः । वायव्यां तु कुरुक्षेत्रं हरिक्षेत्रं तथोत्तरे

Transliteration

nairṛtyāṃ ca tathā māyā ayodhyā paścime sthitāḥ | vāyavyāṃ tu kurukṣetraṃ harikṣetraṃ tathottare

Translation

အနောက်တောင်ဘက်၌ မာယာရှိ၏။ အယောဓျာသည် အနောက်ဘက်၌ တည်၏။ အနောက်မြောက်ဘက်၌ ကုရုက္ခေတ္တရရှိ၍ မြောက်ဘက်၌ ဟရိက္ခေတ္တရ တည်၏။

Word by Word

• नैरृत्याम्: in the southwest
• नैरृत्याम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नैरृती (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), सप्तमी विभक्ति (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन (sg.)

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

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• माया: Maya (place-name)
• माया: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: माया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा विभक्ति (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन (sg.)

• अयोध्या: Ayodhya
• अयोध्या: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अयोध्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा विभक्ति (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन (sg.)

• पश्चिमे: in the west
• पश्चिमे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पश्चिम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), सप्तमी विभक्ति (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन (sg.) (पश्चिमे दिशि)

• स्थिताः: are situated
• स्थिताः: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (धातु) → स्थित (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle) ‘स्थित’; पुंलिङ्ग (m.)/स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.) प्रथमा विभक्ति, बहुवचन; वाक्ये विधेयवत्

• वायव्यम्: in the northwest
• वायव्यम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वायव्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), सप्तमी विभक्ति (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन (sg.) (वायव्यां दिशि)

• तु: and/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle), विरोध/विशेषार्थक (but/indeed)

• कुरुक्षेत्रम्: Kurukshetra
• कुरुक्षेत्रम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरु + क्षेत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति (1st/2nd), एकवचन (sg.); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (कुरूणां क्षेत्रम्)

• हरिक्षेत्रम्: Harikshetra
• हरिक्षेत्रम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हरि (प्रातिपदिक) + क्षेत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति (1st/2nd), एकवचन (sg.); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (हरेः क्षेत्रम्)

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• उत्तरे: in the north
• उत्तरे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उत्तर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), सप्तमी विभक्ति (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन (sg.) (उत्तरे दिशि)

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the assembled sages (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dvārakā (contextual center)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A mandala-like map with Dvārakā at center; in the southwest the label ‘Māyā’, west ‘Ayodhyā’, northwest ‘Kurukṣetra’, north ‘Harikṣetra’, with directional deities faintly presiding.

Characters & Entities

• Māyā
• Ayodhyā
• Kurukṣetra
• Harikṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pilgrimage is presented as an integrated sacred landscape—multiple kṣetras together form a dharmic geography oriented by directions.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Ayodhyā and Kurukṣetra are explicitly named, along with Māyā and Harikṣetra as directional kṣetras.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a cataloging verse establishing locations of revered kṣetras.