Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 11

Devanagari script

तावद्भ्रमंति संसारे दुःखशोकभयाप्लुताः । न भवंति सुरज्येष्ठे यावद्भक्ताः पितामहे

Transliteration

tāvadbhramaṃti saṃsāre duḥkhaśokabhayāplutāḥ | na bhavaṃti surajyeṣṭhe yāvadbhaktāḥ pitāmahe

Translation

สรรพสัตว์ย่อมเร่ร่อนอยู่ในสังสารวัฏตราบนั้น ถูกท่วมท้นด้วยทุกข์ โศก และความหวาดกลัว—ตราบใดที่ยังมิได้เป็นภักตะแห่งปิตามหะ พรหมา ผู้เป็นผู้ใหญ่ยิ่งในหมู่เทวะ

Word by Word

• तावत्: so long
• तावत्: Temporal limit (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तावत् (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: परिमाण/अवधिवाचक अव्यय (correlative: ‘so long’)

• भ्रमन्ति: they wander
• भ्रमन्ति: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भ्रम् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• संसारे: in worldly existence
• संसारे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संसार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• दुःखशोकभयाप्लुताः: overwhelmed by sorrow, grief, and fear
• दुःखशोकभयाप्लुताः: Karta (Subject-qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दुःख (प्रातिपदिक) + शोक (प्रातिपदिक) + भय (प्रातिपदिक) + आप्लुत (प्रातिपदिक; √प्लु/प्लव्)
• Form: समास: (दुःख-शोक-भय)-आप्लुताः; पूर्वपदत्रयस्य समाहारः, तत्पुरुषप्रायः; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (to implied ‘जनाः’)

• न: not
• न: Negation (of verb)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक अव्यय

• भवन्ति: they become / they are
• भवन्ति: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• सुरज्येष्ठे: in/with the chief of the gods (Brahmā)
• सुरज्येष्ठे: Adhikarana (Sphere/Reference)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुर (प्रातिपदिक) + ज्येष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास (षष्ठी: सुराणां ज्येष्ठः); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; संबोधनार्थे अधिकरणवत् (in/with respect to)

• यावत्: until / as long as
• यावत्: Temporal limit (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यावत् (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधिवाचक/सम्बन्धसूचक अव्यय (correlative to तावत्: ‘until/so long as’)

• भक्ताः: devotees
• भक्ताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भक्त (प्रातिपदिक; √भज्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘devotees’

• पितामहे: in/with Pitāmaha (Brahmā)
• पितामहे: Adhikarana (Object of devotion / reference)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितामह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; ‘in/with Pitāmaha (Brahmā)’

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating to the sages (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Pilgrims in a vast cyclical landscape of saṃsāra—stormy waves labeled duḥkha-śoka-bhaya—turning toward a luminous, four-faced Pitāmaha seated on a lotus, indicating refuge through devotion.

Characters & Entities

• Saṃsāra
• Pitāmaha (Brahmā)
• Sura-jyeṣṭha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotion (bhakti) to the divine source of creation and dharma is presented as a remedy to the anxieties of saṃsāra.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Brahmā-linked tīrtha setting in Prabhāsa is implied; the teaching supports the practice of Brahmā-bhakti at that site.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The prescription is devotional orientation—becoming a bhakta of Pitāmaha—rather than a specific external rite.