Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 34

Devanagari script

जपेच्च त्र्यक्षरं मंत्र षण्मुखं च यदृच्छया । मंत्रराजेति यः पूर्वं तवाख्यातो मया प्रिये

Transliteration

japecca tryakṣaraṃ maṃtra ṣaṇmukhaṃ ca yadṛcchayā | maṃtrarājeti yaḥ pūrvaṃ tavākhyāto mayā priye

Translation

తరువాత యథాశక్తి త్ర్యక్షరీ మంత్రాన్ని, అలాగే షణ్ముఖ (షడానన) మంత్రాన్ని జపించాలి. ప్రియే, నేను ముందుగా ‘మంత్రరాజు’ అని నీకు చెప్పినదే—

Word by Word

• japet: should mutter/recite
• japet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jap (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• tri-akṣaram: three-syllabled
• tri-akṣaram: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक) + akṣara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास; विशेषण

• mantram: mantra
• mantram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mantra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; कर्म

• ṣaṇmukham: Ṣaṇmukha (six-faced one, Skanda)
• ṣaṇmukham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ṣaṭ (प्रातिपदिक) + mukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास; (षड्मुखः) स्कन्द/कार्त्तिकेय-नाम; कर्म

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• yadṛcchayā: spontaneously/as it comes
• yadṛcchayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yadṛcchā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), एकवचन; करण; अर्थे—स्वेच्छया/यथालाभम्

• mantrarāja-iti: as ‘Mantrarāja’
• mantrarāja-iti: Vacana (Quotation/वचन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: mantra (प्रातिपदिक) + rāja (प्रातिपदिक) + iti (अव्यय)
• Form: इति-समाप्तिसूचक अव्यय; उद्धरण/नामनिर्देश (as ‘Mantrarāja’)

• yaḥ: which/that (mantra)
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक-सर्वनाम

• pūrvam: previously
• pūrvam: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: pūrva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभावे नपुंसक-द्वितीया एकवचनरूपेण क्रियाविशेषण; कालवाचक (formerly/before)

• tava: to you/your
• tava: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध (genitive)

• ākhyātaḥ: was told/declared
• ākhyātaḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā + √khyā (धातु) + kta (क्त) → ākhyāta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त; ‘कथितः’ (told)

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3), एकवचन; कर्तृ-करण (agent in passive)

• priye: O beloved
• priye: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: priyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8), एकवचन; संबोधन

Speaker

Unknown (speaker addresses ‘priye’; likely a deity/sage instructing a close interlocutor, but not explicit in snippet)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: ‘Priye’—a dear interlocutor (often a goddess/consort figure in puranic dialogue styles)

Visual Art Cues

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.

Characters & Entities

• Ṣaṇmukha
• Skanda

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Regular japa—especially of revered seed-mantras and Skanda’s mantra—is upheld as a practical discipline adaptable to one’s capacity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa Kṣetra, where mantra-japa is integrated into the pilgrimage rite sequence.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Japa of a three-syllabled mantra, japa connected with Ṣaṇmukha (Skanda), and remembrance of the previously taught Mantrarāja.