Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 87

Devanagari script

शूलिकोद्भिन्नमाकाशमिव कुर्वद्भिरुच्चकैः । एवमुक्ते प्रत्युवाच शारदा तं नगोत्तमम्

Transliteration

śūlikodbhinnamākāśamiva kurvadbhiruccakaiḥ | evamukte pratyuvāca śāradā taṃ nagottamam

Translation

அவர்கள் உரத்த குரலில் கூச்சலிட்டு, ஈட்டிகளால் ஆகாயத்தையே குத்திப் பிளப்பதுபோல் செய்தனர்; இவ்வாறு கூறப்பட்டபோது சாரதா அந்த உத்தம மலைக்கு மறுமொழி கூறினாள்.

Word by Word

• śūlikodbhinnam: Pierced by the peaks/points
• śūlikodbhinnam: Visheshana (Qualifier to ākāśam)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śūlikodbhinna (शूलिका + उद्भिन्न)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• ākāśam: Sky
• ākāśam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ākāśa (आकाश)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• iva: As if
• iva: Upama (Simile)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iva
• Form: Particle

• kurvadbhiḥ: Making/Rendering
• kurvadbhiḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier to implied peaks)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kṛ (कृ)
• Form: Present Participle (Shatri), Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• uccakaiḥ: High/Tall
• uccakaiḥ: Visheshana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uccaka (उच्चक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• evam: Thus
• evam: Adverbial
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam
• Form: Adverb

• ukte: Having been said
• ukte: Bhavalakshana (Locative Absolute)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ukta (उक्त)
• Form: Past Participle, Neuter, Locative, Singular (Sati Saptami)

• pratyuvāca: Replied
• pratyuvāca: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (वच्) + prati (प्रति)
• Form: Perfect Tense (Lit), 3rd Person, Singular

• śāradā: Goddess Sharada
• śāradā: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śāradā (शारदा)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• tam: Him
• tam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद्)
• Form: Pronoun, Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• nagottamam: Best of mountains
• nagottamam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nagottama (नग + उत्तम)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narration; speaker not explicit in this snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A dramatic moment: a tumultuous cry rises like spears piercing the sky; then Śāradā, serene yet authoritative, answers the personified king of mountains.

Characters & Entities

• Śāradā
• Nagottama (a mountain/king of mountains)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine agency begins to unfold through dialogue—events in a tīrtha are guided by the Goddess for the protection and sanctification of the place.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra (the sacred Prabhāsa region, associated with the seashore and Purāṇic sanctity).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly in this verse; it sets the narrative context for subsequent actions connected with the tīrtha.