Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 108

Devanagari script

श्वेतसर्पः समभवद्देशे तस्मिन्नरोत्तम । तत्रैवाहं ब्राह्मणस्य संजाता तनया नृप

Transliteration

śvetasarpaḥ samabhavaddeśe tasminnarottama | tatraivāhaṃ brāhmaṇasya saṃjātā tanayā nṛpa

Translation

โอ้บุรุษผู้ประเสริฐ ในแคว้นนั้นเองได้ปรากฏงูสีขาว และที่นั่นเอง ข้าแต่พระราชา ข้าพเจ้าได้เกิดเป็นธิดาของพราหมณ์

Word by Word

• श्वेतसर्पः: a white serpent
• श्वेतसर्पः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्वेत (प्रातिपदिक) + सर्प (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारय (Masculine, Nominative, Singular)

• समभवत्: came to be; arose
• समभवत्: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + √भू (धातु)
• Form: लङ्-लकार, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद (Imperfect/Past, 3rd person, Singular)

• देशे: in the place
• देशे: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Masculine, Locative, Singular)

• तस्मिन्: in that
• तस्मिन्: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सर्वनाम (Locative, Singular)

• नरोत्तम: O best of men
• नरोत्तम: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक) + उत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (Masculine, Vocative, Singular)

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of place)

• एव: indeed; just
• एव: Avadhāraṇa (Emphasis/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-निपात (restrictive particle)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Nominative, Singular)

• ब्राह्मणस्य: of a Brahmin
• ब्राह्मणस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Masculine, Genitive, Singular)

• संजाता: born
• संजाता: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (Subject complement/कर्तृसमानााधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम् + √जन् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त), कर्तरि (Feminine, Nominative, Singular; ‘born’)

• तनया: daughter
• तनया: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (Apposition/समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तनया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Feminine, Nominative, Singular)

• नृप: O king
• नृप: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Masculine, Vocative, Singular)

Speaker

Unspecified (a woman narrating her former-life account to the king, within the Māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: nṛpa (king) / nara-uttama addressed

Visual Art Cues

Scene: In the same countryside, a striking white serpent appears as an omen; simultaneously, the narrator is reborn as a brāhmaṇa’s daughter—two destinies braided in one landscape.

Characters & Entities

• brāhmaṇa
• śveta-sarpa (white serpent)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic narratives link births and encounters to karmic causality unfolding within a sacred landscape.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Vastrāpathakṣetra in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa, introduced through a personal karmic account.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is prescribed in this verse; it sets the narrative context for the Māhātmya.