Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 41

Devanagari script

यत्र संक्षयमायाति सर्वं तत्राशुभं कृतम् । तत्र यो वृषभं दद्याद्ब्राह्मणाय नृपोत्तम । तद्रोमसंख्ययास्वर्गे स पुमान्वसति ध्रुवम्

Transliteration

yatra saṃkṣayamāyāti sarvaṃ tatrāśubhaṃ kṛtam | tatra yo vṛṣabhaṃ dadyādbrāhmaṇāya nṛpottama | tadromasaṃkhyayāsvarge sa pumānvasati dhruvam

Translation

ఓ నృపోత్తమా! ఎక్కడ చేసిన సమస్త అశుభకర్మలు నశిస్తాయో, అక్కడ బ్రాహ్మణునికి వృషభాన్ని దానం చేసే వాడు, ఆ వృషభ రోమసంఖ్యకు సమానమైన కాలం నిశ్చయంగా స్వర్గంలో నివసిస్తాడు।

Word by Word

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (स्थानवाचक/relative adverb) — locative sense “where”

• saṃkṣayam: destruction; decay
• saṃkṣayam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃkṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन — object of motion/attainment

• āyāti: comes; reaches
• āyāti: Kriyā (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √yā (धाातु) + ā- (उपसर्ग)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन — “comes/attains”

• sarvam: everything
• sarvam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन — subject

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

• aśubham: inauspicious; evil
• aśubham: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-śubha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन — predicate adjective with kṛtam

• kṛtam: is done; has been done
• kṛtam: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु) → kṛta (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — past passive participle used predicatively (“is done/made”)

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

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — relative pronoun, subject

• vṛṣabham: a bull
• vṛṣabham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛṣabha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — direct object of dadyāt

• dadyāt: should give
• dadyāt: Kriyā (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √dā (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन — “should give”

• brāhmaṇāya: to a Brahmin
• brāhmaṇāya: Sampradāna (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/सम्प्रदान), एकवचन — recipient

• nṛpa-uttama: O best of kings
• nṛpa-uttama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛpa (प्रातिपदिक) + uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/vocative), एकवचन — तत्पुरुष (षष्ठी/निर्धारणार्थ) “श्रेष्ठः नृपाणाम्”

• tad-romasaṃkhyayā: by the count of its hairs
• tad-romasaṃkhyayā: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम) + roma (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃkhyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन — तत्पुरुष: (तस्य रोम्णाम्) संख्यया “by the number of its hairs”

• svarge: in heaven
• svarge: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन — location

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — demonstrative pronoun, subject

• pumān: the man
• pumān: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pumān/puṃs (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — apposition to saḥ

• vasati: dwells; resides
• vasati: Kriyā (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vas (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन — “dwells”

• dhruvam: certainly
• dhruvam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: dhruva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (निश्चयार्थक/particle) — used adverbially “certainly”

Speaker

Pulastya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: (Unnamed) Aśubha-kṣaya Kuṇḍa (Arbuda)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nṛpottama (king; contextually Yayāti)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: On the bank of a sacred pond, a donor king offers a decorated bull to a brāhmaṇa; the bull is garlanded; celestial beings above record the merit; the water shimmers as a purifier of sins.

Characters & Entities

• Śivagaṅgā-kuṇḍa
• Brāhmaṇa
• Vṛṣabha (bull)
• Svarga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A true tīrtha dissolves sin, and charity performed there—especially gifts supporting dharma—multiplies into vast merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The sin-destroying pond described in this passage: Śivagaṅgā-kuṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Donate a bull (vṛṣabha-dāna) to a brāhmaṇa at the tīrtha to obtain great heavenly merit.