Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

ईश्वर उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि यत्र न्यंकुमती नदी । मर्यादार्थं समानीता क्षेत्रशांत्यै च शंभुना

Transliteration

īśvara uvāca | tato gacchenmahādevi yatra nyaṃkumatī nadī | maryādārthaṃ samānītā kṣetraśāṃtyai ca śaṃbhunā

Translation

ఈశ్వరుడు పలికెను—తదనంతరం, ఓ మహాదేవీ, న్యంకుమతీ నది ఉన్న చోటికి వెళ్లవలెను; క్షేత్రానికి మర్యాద స్థాపనకై మరియు క్షేత్రశాంతికై శంభువు ఆమెను అక్కడికి తీసికొనివచ్చెను।

Word by Word

• īśvaraḥ: Īśvara
• īśvaraḥ: Karta (Speaker/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (Nominative); एकवचन

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect); प्रथमपुरुष (3rd); एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अव्यय-प्रयोगः (adverb: thereafter)

• gacchet: should go
• gacchet: Kriya
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative); प्रथमपुरुष (3rd); एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• mahādevi: O great goddess
• mahādevi: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā-devī (प्रातिपदिक; महा + देवी)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन (Vocative); एकवचन

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikarana (Relative location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; सम्बन्ध-प्रश्न/यद्-शब्द-सम्बद्ध (relative adverb: where)

• nyaṃkumatī: Nyaṃkumatī
• nyaṃkumatī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nyaṃkumatī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (Nominative); एकवचन; नदी-नाम

• nadī: river
• nadī: Apposition (Samānādhikaraṇa/समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nadī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (Nominative); एकवचन

• maryādārtham: for the sake of boundary/limit
• maryādārtham: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maryādā-artha (प्रातिपदिक; मर्यादा + अर्थ)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (Accusative); एकवचन; प्रयोजनार्थे (purpose)

• samānītā: was brought/led together
• samānītā: Kriya (Predicate participle/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-ā-nī (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle); स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन

• kṣetraśāṃtyai: for the peace of the sacred field
• kṣetraśāṃtyai: Sampradana (Beneficiary/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣetra-śānti (प्रातिपदिक; क्षेत्र + शान्ति)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी (Dative); एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• śaṃbhunā: by Śambhu (Śiva)
• śaṃbhunā: Karana (Agent-instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaṃbhu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया (Instrumental); एकवचन

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Nyaṅkumatī-nadī

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahādevī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva instructs Mahādevī to proceed to the river Nyaṅkumatī—shown as a flowing boundary line around the holy field; the river appears as a protective girdle, calming the landscape and demarcating sacred space.

Characters & Entities

• Īśvara (Śiva/Śambhu)
• Mahādevī (Pārvatī)
• Nyaṅkumatī River
• Prabhāsa Kṣetra (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Holy places are protected and ordered through divine arrangement; even rivers can be sanctified as guardians of a kṣetra.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Nyaṅkumatī river-tīrtha within the sacred landscape of Prabhāsa Kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A pilgrimage directive: one should go to the site of the Nyaṅkumatī river established by Śiva.