Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 23

Devanagari script

गजशीर्षैरगम्यास्ते निहताः क्षत्रिया रणे । स होमो यत्र हूयंते गजाश्च नरपुंगवाः

Transliteration

gajaśīrṣairagamyāste nihatāḥ kṣatriyā raṇe | sa homo yatra hūyaṃte gajāśca narapuṃgavāḥ

Translation

เหล่ากษัตริย์ผู้ถูกสังหารในสมรภูมิ นอนทอดร่างอยู่ในสถานที่อันยากจะผ่านไปได้ด้วยกองศีรษะช้าง 'นั่นคือพิธีโหมะ' ที่ซึ่งช้างและยอดคนถูกสังเวยในกองเพลิง (แห่งสงคราม)

Word by Word

• गजशीर्षैः: with/using elephant-heads
• गजशीर्षैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गज (प्रातिपदिक) + शीर्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण/साधन), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (गजानां शीर्षाणि)

• अगम्याः: inaccessible, unapproachable
• अगम्याः: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गम् (धातु) + य (प्रत्यय) → अगम्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; नञ्-पूर्वक कृदन्त (गम्य-शब्दः), ‘not to be approached’

• ते: they
• ते: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• निहताः: slain
• निहताः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हन् (धातु) + क्त (प्रत्यय) → निहत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle)

• क्षत्रियाः: Kshatriyas, warriors
• क्षत्रियाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षत्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• रणे: in battle
• रणे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन

• सः: that
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• होमः: sacrifice, oblation-rite
• होमः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: होम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; सम्बन्धबोधक-अव्यय (relative adverb: ‘where’)

• हूयन्ते: are offered (as oblations)
• हूयन्ते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: हु (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार, कर्मणि प्रयोग, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• गजाः: elephants
• गजाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक (conjunction)

• नरपुंगवाः: best of men, champions
• नरपुंगवाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक) + पुंगव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (नराणां पुंगवाः)

Speaker

Nārada

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Naimiṣāraṇya sages (frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A battlefield choked with elephant heads; fallen kṣatriyas lie beyond reach. The ‘homa’ is imagined as bodies and beasts offered into an unseen conflagration of conflict.

Characters & Entities

• Kṣatriya
• Homa
• Gaja

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred metaphors can be dangerously misapplied; true yajña elevates, while war’s ‘offering’ is a sign of moral and mental disturbance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage sits within the Vastrāpathakṣetra Māhātmya of Prabhāsa, part of the region’s larger sacred narrative framework.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Homa is referenced, but used metaphorically as an inversion—equating battlefield death with an ‘offering.’