Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 2

Devanagari script

तमोभावे समुत्पन्ने जातास्तत्रैव राक्षसाः । सूर्यस्य द्वेषिणः सर्वे ह्यसंख्याता महाबलाः

Transliteration

tamobhāve samutpanne jātāstatraiva rākṣasāḥ | sūryasya dveṣiṇaḥ sarve hyasaṃkhyātā mahābalāḥ

Translation

ครั้นเมื่อภาวะแห่งความมืดบังเกิดขึ้น ณ ที่นั้นเอง เหล่ารากษสก็ถือกำเนิด—นับไม่ถ้วน มีกำลังยิ่งใหญ่ และล้วนเป็นผู้เกลียดชังพระสุริยะ

Word by Word

• तमोभावे: in the state of darkness
• तमोभावे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तमस्-भाव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (तमसः भावः)

• समुत्पन्ने: having arisen; occurring
• समुत्पन्ने: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-उत्-पद् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; ‘तमोभावे’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• जाताः: were born; arose
• जाताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘उत्पन्नाः/सम्भूताः’

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय

• एव: indeed
• एव: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक-अव्यय (particle: ‘indeed/just’)

• राक्षसाः: demons (rākṣasas)
• राक्षसाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राक्षस (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• सूर्यस्य: of the Sun
• सूर्यस्य: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूर्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• द्वेषिणः: hating; hostile
• द्वेषिणः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वेषिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘राक्षसाः’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘राक्षसाः’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• हि: indeed
• हि: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic/causal particle)

• असंख्याता: countless
• असंख्याता: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ-सम्-ख्या (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘राक्षसाः’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• महाबलाः: very strong; mighty
• महाबलाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा-बल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मधारयः (महत् बलं येषाम्)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva) (continued narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Pātāla-vivara (contextual)

Type: cave

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Mahādevī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: From a yawning cavern of blackness, innumerable rākṣasas surge forth—muscular, armed, shadow-hued—turning their faces upward in hatred toward the rising Sun’s first rays.

Characters & Entities

• Rākṣasas
• Sūrya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Tamas (spiritual darkness) generates hostility to light and dharma, symbolized by beings who oppose the Sun.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is part of the Pātālavivara māhātmya narration within Prabhāsa-kṣetra, setting the mythic scene.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; this is narrative background.