Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 12

Devanagari script

समासक्तं यथा चित्तं जंतोर्विषयगोचरे । यद्येवं ब्रह्मणि न्यस्तं को न मुच्येत बंधनात्

Transliteration

samāsaktaṃ yathā cittaṃ jaṃtorviṣayagocare | yadyevaṃ brahmaṇi nyastaṃ ko na mucyeta baṃdhanāt

Translation

ดุจดังจิตของสัตว์ยึดติดแน่นในขอบเขตแห่งอารมณ์ทางประสาทสัมผัส หากยึดจิตนั้นไว้ในพรหมัน (ความจริงสูงสุด) ด้วยประการเดียวกัน ใครเล่าจะไม่พ้นจากพันธนาการ?

Word by Word

• समासक्तम्: attached
• समासक्तम्: Karta (Predicate/qualifier of citta)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम् + आसक्त (प्रातिपदिक; √सञ्ज्/सज्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (to ‘चित्तम्’); अर्थ: ‘attached’

• यथा: just as
• यथा: Comparison marker
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमान/प्रकारवाचक अव्यय (as/just as)

• चित्तम्: mind
• चित्तम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चित्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• जन्तोः: of a creature/person
• जन्तोः: Shashthi-sambandha (Possessor/Relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्तु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• विषयगोचरे: in the range of sense-objects
• विषयगोचरे: Adhikarana (Domain/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विषय (प्रातिपदिक) + गोचर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास (विषयस्य गोचरः = range of objects); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• यदि: if
• यदि: Condition marker
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि (अव्यय)
• Form: शर्तवाचक अव्यय (conditional ‘if’)

• एवम्: thus
• एवम्: Manner adverb
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रकारवाचक अव्यय (thus/in this way)

• ब्रह्मणि: in Brahman / in Brahmā
• ब्रह्मणि: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• न्यस्तम्: placed, fixed
• न्यस्तम्: Karta (Predicate participle/qualifier of citta)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि + अस्/न्यस् (धातु; √अस् ‘to place’ in causative sense via ‘न्यस्’)
• Form: क्त (Past Passive Participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘placed/laid’ (agreeing with ‘चित्तम्’)

• कः: who
• कः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक सर्वनाम

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

• मुच्येत: would be freed
• मुच्येत: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि/भावे: ‘would be released’

• बन्धनात्: from bondage
• बन्धनात्: Apadana (Source/Separation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बन्धन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating to the sages (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A split composition: on one side the mind as a monkey grasping sense-objects; on the other, the same mind transformed into a steady lamp-flame before a radiant Brahman-symbol (jyoti/lotus), chains falling away.

Characters & Entities

• Citta (mind)
• Viṣaya (sense-objects)
• Brahman/Brahmā
• Bandhana (bondage)
• Mokṣa (liberation)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Redirect the same intensity used for worldly attachment toward the Divine; such one-pointedness becomes the path to liberation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is a doctrinal support within the Prabhāsa Brahmā-tīrtha context, encouraging inner worship alongside pilgrimage.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A mental discipline is prescribed: fixing the mind upon Brahman/Brahmā with the same steadfastness ordinarily given to sense-objects.