Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

भारतो यो महादेवि कूर्मरूपेण संस्थितः । नक्षत्रग्रहविन्यासं तस्य ते कथयाम्यहम्

Transliteration

bhārato yo mahādevi kūrmarūpeṇa saṃsthitaḥ | nakṣatragrahavinyāsaṃ tasya te kathayāmyaham

Translation

హే మహాదేవీ! కూర్మరూపంగా స్థితమైన ఈ భారతానికి సంబంధించిన నక్షత్ర-గ్రహ విన్యాసాన్ని నేను నీకు ఇప్పుడు వివరిస్తాను.

Word by Word

• bhārataḥ: Bhārata (the land/personified Bhārata)
• bhārataḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhārata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेष्य (proper name)

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक-यः (relative pronoun)

• mahādevi: O great goddess
• mahādevi: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahādevī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन; महा+देवी (कर्मधारय)

• kūrma-rūpeṇa: in the form of a tortoise
• kūrma-rūpeṇa: Karana (करण/Instrument; manner)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kūrma (प्रातिपदिक) + rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; कूर्मस्य रूपम् इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष, करण/प्रकारवाचक

• saṃsthitaḥ: is situated/placed
• saṃsthitaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Predicate adjective to subject)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-√sthā (स्था धातु) (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक: संस्थित)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्तरि प्रयोग; ‘स्थितः/स्थितवान्’ (having been placed/being situated)

• nakṣatra-graha-vinyāsam: the arrangement of constellations and planets
• nakṣatra-graha-vinyāsam: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nakṣatra (प्रातिपदिक) + graha (प्रातिपदिक) + vinyāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; नक्षत्राणां ग्रहाणां च विन्यासः इति समाहार-तत्पुरुष (सम्बन्धनिर्देश)

• tasya: of him/of that
• tasya: Shashthi-sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध/Possessor)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध (of him/that)

• te: to you
• te: Sampradana (सम्प्रदान/Recipient)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया/चतुर्थी (2nd/Accusative or 4th/Dative), एकवचन; अत्र सम्प्रदानार्थे (to you)

• kathayāmi: I tell/describe
• kathayāmi: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kath (कथ् धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष? (न), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; उत्तमपुरुषवाचक सर्वनाम

Speaker

Unspecified (contextual narrator within Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Bhārata-varṣa (Kūrma-rūpa)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahādevī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The speaker addresses the Goddess and gestures to a map-like tortoise-shaped Bhārata, over which nakṣatras and planets are diagrammed like luminous nodes.

Characters & Entities

• Bhārata
• Kūrma
• Nakṣatra
• Graha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The sacred land (Bhārata) is envisioned as a divine body, where celestial order (nakṣatras and planets) mirrors spiritual order.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The chapter belongs to the glory of Prabhāsakṣetra, but the verse introduces a cosmological teaching rather than naming a single tirtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a preface to an explanatory section.