Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

वृक्षाग्रमात्रमाकाशं ते चरंति न संशयः

Transliteration

vṛkṣāgramātramākāśaṃ te caraṃti na saṃśayaḥ

Translation

वृक्षाग्रमात्रमाकाशं ते विचरन्ति न संशयः।

Word by Word

• वृक्षाग्रमात्रम्: only as far as the tree-top (measure)
• वृक्षाग्रमात्रम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वृक्ष-अग्र-मात्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (वृक्षस्य अग्रं यावत् मात्रम्)

• आकाशम्: the sky/space
• आकाशम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आकाश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• ते: they
• ते: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• चरन्ति: they move/roam
• चरन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: चर् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• न: not
• न: Negation
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध (negation particle)

• संशयः: doubt
• संशयः: Sambandha/Idiomatic (parenthetical)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संशय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

Speaker

Śiva (deduced from context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (explicit vocative appears in the passage)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A liminal sky-scene where flight is constrained to the height of a treetop, emphasizing a measured, almost ritual boundary between earth and heaven.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even subtle beings are bounded by divinely set limits, reinforcing cosmic order (niyati) under dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra, within whose māhātmya such details are narrated.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.