Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 57

Devanagari script

रथप्रवरवेगेन वाणी चास्खलिता भवेत् । नश्यंति वादिनः सर्वे गरुडस्येव पन्नगाः

Transliteration

rathapravaravegena vāṇī cāskhalitā bhavet | naśyaṃti vādinaḥ sarve garuḍasyeva pannagāḥ

Translation

Речь его становится без запинки, стремительной, как бег лучшей колесницы; все противники исчезают, как змеи перед Гарудой.

Word by Word

• ratha-pravara-vegena: by the speed of an excellent chariot
• ratha-pravara-vegena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ratha (प्रातिपदिक) + pravara (प्रातिपदिक) + vega (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), तृतीया विभक्ति (Instrumental), एकवचन (singular)

• vāṇī: speech/voice
• vāṇī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vāṇī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन (singular)

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

• askhalitā: unfaltering
• askhalitā: Karta (Subject-complement/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a- (उपसर्ग/निषेध) + skhal (धातु) → skhalita (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन (singular); 'अस्कलिता' = not stumbling/unslipping

• bhavet: would be / may become
• bhavet: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपद

• naśyanti: perish
• naśyanti: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: naś (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन (plural), परस्मैपद

• vādinaḥ: debaters/speakers
• vādinaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vādin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative), बहुवचन (plural)

• sarve: all
• sarve: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative), बहुवचन (plural)

• garuḍasya: of Garuḍa
• garuḍasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: garuḍa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), षष्ठी विभक्ति (Genitive), एकवचन (singular)

• iva: like
• iva: Upamāna (Standard of comparison/उपमान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iva (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमावाचक अव्यय (particle of comparison: 'like')

• pannagāḥ: serpents
• pannagāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pannaga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative), बहुवचन (plural)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A speaker stands poised, words flowing like a racing chariot; opponents recoil and scatter like serpents as Garuḍa’s shadow falls—symbolizing irresistible, dharma-charged eloquence.

Characters & Entities

• Garuḍa
• Vādin
• Vāk (speech)
• Prabhāsakṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine empowerment makes speech steady and decisive; opposition collapses before grace-backed truth.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra, whose tīrtha-prabhāva is said to confer such commanding eloquence.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Not directly; it poetically describes the fruit (phala) of the earlier tīrtha disciplines.