Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 34
जपेच्च त्र्यक्षरं मंत्र षण्मुखं च यदृच्छया । मंत्रराजेति यः पूर्वं तवाख्यातो मया प्रिये
japecca tryakṣaraṃ maṃtra ṣaṇmukhaṃ ca yadṛcchayā | maṃtrarājeti yaḥ pūrvaṃ tavākhyāto mayā priye
பின்னர் இயன்ற அளவு த்ர்யக்ஷரீ மந்திரத்தையும், ஷண்முக (ஷடானன) மந்திரத்தையும் ஜபிக்க வேண்டும். பிரியே, நான் முன்பு ‘மந்திரராஜம்’ என்று உனக்குச் சொன்னதுதான்—
Unknown (speaker addresses ‘priye’; likely a deity/sage instructing a close interlocutor, but not explicit in snippet)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: ‘Priye’—a dear interlocutor (often a goddess/consort figure in puranic dialogue styles)
Scene: A pilgrim at Prabhāsa sits facing the sacred precinct, lips softly moving in japa; the sea-breeze and temple banners frame the act of mantra-recitation, suggesting the ‘king of mantras’ being recalled as earlier taught.
FAQs
Regular japa—especially of revered seed-mantras and Skanda’s mantra—is upheld as a practical discipline adaptable to one’s capacity.
Prabhāsa Kṣetra, where mantra-japa is integrated into the pilgrimage rite sequence.
Japa of a three-syllabled mantra, japa connected with Ṣaṇmukha (Skanda), and remembrance of the previously taught Mantrarāja.