Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

एतन्मे कौतुकं सर्वं यथावद्वक्तुमर्हसि । तस्मिन्दृष्टे च किं पुण्यं नराणां तत्र जायते

Transliteration

etanme kautukaṃ sarvaṃ yathāvadvaktumarhasi | tasmindṛṣṭe ca kiṃ puṇyaṃ narāṇāṃ tatra jāyate

Translation

ਮੇਰੀ ਇਹ ਸਾਰੀ ਜਿਗਿਆਸਾ ਤੂੰ ਯਥਾਵਤ ਦੱਸਣ ਜੋਗ ਹੈਂ। ਅਤੇ ਉਸ ਪਵਿੱਤਰ ਦਰਸ਼ਨ ਨਾਲ ਮਨੁੱਖਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਉੱਥੇ ਕਿਹੋ ਜਿਹਾ ਪੁੰਨ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ?

Word by Word

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — “this” (topic/object)

• me: my
• me: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन — enclitic “my”

• kautukam: curiosity; wonder
• kautukam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kautuka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — “curiosity/wonder”

• sarvam: entire
• sarvam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — adjective of etat/kautukam “all/entire”

• yathāvat: properly
• yathāvat: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (रीतिवाचक adverb) — “properly, as it is”

• vaktum: to tell
• vaktum: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vac (धातु) → infinitive (तुमुन्)
• Form: कृदन्त (तुमुन्-अव्यय/infinitive) — “to speak”

• arhasi: you should; you are able
• arhasi: Kriyā (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √arh (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन — “you are fit/ought”

• tasmin: in that; upon that
• tasmin: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुं, सप्तमी, एकवचन — “in/when that”

• dṛṣṭe: when (it) is seen
• dṛṣṭe: Adhikaraṇa (Locative absolute/अधिकरण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √dṛś (धातु) → dṛṣṭa (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त), सप्तमी, एकवचन (locative absolute) — “when it is seen/after seeing it”

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय/ conjunction) — “and”

• kim: what
• kim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — interrogative “what?”

• puṇyam: merit
• puṇyam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puṇya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — “merit”

• narāṇām: of people
• narāṇām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन — “of men”

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (स्थानवाचक) — “there”

• jāyate: arises; is produced
• jāyate: Kriyā (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jan (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद — “is produced/arises”

Speaker

Unspecified (listener/interlocutor addressing Pulastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Arbuda-kṣetra Maheśvara-darśana

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A king, hands joined, requests a full explanation from a seated sage; behind them a hinted shrine and mountain path, emphasizing the transition from curiosity to devotion and from narrative to merit.

Characters & Entities

• Maheśvara (Śiva)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sincere inquiry into a sacred narrative is itself dharmic, and darśana (beholding the divine/holy) is presented as a direct source of puṇya.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is introductory; within Arbuda Khaṇḍa it points to the Arbuda/Prabhāsa sacred-geography frame, but this line itself does not name a specific tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly—only the act of ‘seeing’ (darśana) is highlighted as merit-bearing.