Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

अवध्यो मे तलो देवाः पुत्रत्वे हि प्रतिष्ठितः । एवमुक्त्वा हृषीकेशं प्रभासक्षेत्रवासिनम्

Transliteration

avadhyo me talo devāḥ putratve hi pratiṣṭhitaḥ | evamuktvā hṛṣīkeśaṃ prabhāsakṣetravāsinam

Translation

พระรุทระตรัสว่า “โอ้เหล่าเทวะ ตาโลนั้นเราไม่อาจประหารได้ เพราะเขาตั้งมั่นในฐานะบุตรของเรา” ครั้นตรัสดังนี้แล้ว พระองค์ทรงหันพระทัยไปยังพระหฤษีเกศ ผู้สถิตในแดนศักดิ์สิทธิ์ปรภาสะ

Word by Word

• avadhyaḥ: unslayable, not to be killed
• avadhyaḥ: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: avadhya (प्रातिपदिक; नञ्-पूर्वक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifier) तलः-शब्दस्य; नञ्-समास/उपपद-निषेधार्थ (not to be slain)

• me: my
• me: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• talaḥ: Tala
• talaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• devāḥ: O gods
• devāḥ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), बहुवचन

• putratve: in the status of sonship
• putratve: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: putratva (प्रातिपदिक; भाव)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; भाववाचक (state/condition)

• hi: indeed, for
• hi: Sambandha (Discourse particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, निपात (emphatic/causal particle)

• pratiṣṭhitaḥ: is established
• pratiṣṭhitaḥ: Kriya (Predicative state/क्रिया-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pratiṣṭhita (कृदन्त; prati-√sthā/स्था, क्त-प्रत्यय, PPP)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; क्तान्त कृदन्त विशेषण (established) तलः-शब्दस्य

• evam: thus
• evam: Visheshana (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, प्रकार/उक्तिप्रकारसूचक (thus)

• uktvā: having said
• uktvā: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vac (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive), "having said"

• hṛṣīkeśam: Hṛṣīkeśa
• hṛṣīkeśam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hṛṣīkeśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• prabhāsa-kṣetra-vāsinam: dwelling in the Prabhāsa sacred region
• prabhāsa-kṣetra-vāsinam: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prabhāsa (प्रातिपदिक) + kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक) + vāsin (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक; √vas/वस् with णिनि/इन्, "dweller")
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifier) हृषीकेशम्; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (प्रभासक्षेत्रे वासी = dweller in Prabhāsa-kṣetra)

Speaker

Rudra (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Hṛṣīkeśa at Prabhāsa

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Audience within the mahatmya narration

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Rudra addresses the devas: calm, firm, explaining he cannot slay Talo because of son-status; then his gaze/gesture turns toward Hṛṣīkeśa dwelling in Prabhāsa, indicating a transfer of agency to the kṣetra’s Viṣṇu-presence.

Characters & Entities

• Rudra (Śiva)
• Talo
• Devas
• Hṛṣīkeśa (Viṣṇu)
• Prabhāsakṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even gods act within vows, boons, and relational dharma; restoration of order may require invoking another divine agency rather than violating sacred commitments.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra, explicitly named as the abode of Hṛṣīkeśa in this passage.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual is prescribed; the verse highlights theological constraint (avadhyatva) and turning toward Hṛṣīkeśa in Prabhāsa.