Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 41

Devanagari script

यत्र संक्षयमायाति सर्वं तत्राशुभं कृतम् । तत्र यो वृषभं दद्याद्ब्राह्मणाय नृपोत्तम । तद्रोमसंख्ययास्वर्गे स पुमान्वसति ध्रुवम्

Transliteration

yatra saṃkṣayamāyāti sarvaṃ tatrāśubhaṃ kṛtam | tatra yo vṛṣabhaṃ dadyādbrāhmaṇāya nṛpottama | tadromasaṃkhyayāsvarge sa pumānvasati dhruvam

Translation

اے بہترین بادشاہ! جہاں کیے ہوئے تمام اَشُبھ کرم نَشٹ ہو جاتے ہیں، وہاں جو کوئی برہمن کو ایک بَیل (ورِشبھ) دان کرے، وہ مرد اس بیل کے جسم کے بالوں کی تعداد کے برابر برسوں تک یقیناً سَورگ میں بستا ہے۔

Word by Word

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (स्थानवाचक/relative adverb) — locative sense “where”

• saṃkṣayam: destruction; decay
• saṃkṣayam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃkṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन — object of motion/attainment

• āyāti: comes; reaches
• āyāti: Kriyā (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √yā (धाातु) + ā- (उपसर्ग)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन — “comes/attains”

• sarvam: everything
• sarvam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन — subject

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (स्थानवाचक adverb) — “there”

• aśubham: inauspicious; evil
• aśubham: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-śubha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन — predicate adjective with kṛtam

• kṛtam: is done; has been done
• kṛtam: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु) → kṛta (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — past passive participle used predicatively (“is done/made”)

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (स्थानवाचक adverb) — “there”

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — relative pronoun, subject

• vṛṣabham: a bull
• vṛṣabham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛṣabha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — direct object of dadyāt

• dadyāt: should give
• dadyāt: Kriyā (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √dā (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन — “should give”

• brāhmaṇāya: to a Brahmin
• brāhmaṇāya: Sampradāna (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/सम्प्रदान), एकवचन — recipient

• nṛpa-uttama: O best of kings
• nṛpa-uttama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛpa (प्रातिपदिक) + uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/vocative), एकवचन — तत्पुरुष (षष्ठी/निर्धारणार्थ) “श्रेष्ठः नृपाणाम्”

• tad-romasaṃkhyayā: by the count of its hairs
• tad-romasaṃkhyayā: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम) + roma (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃkhyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन — तत्पुरुष: (तस्य रोम्णाम्) संख्यया “by the number of its hairs”

• svarge: in heaven
• svarge: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन — location

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — demonstrative pronoun, subject

• pumān: the man
• pumān: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pumān/puṃs (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — apposition to saḥ

• vasati: dwells; resides
• vasati: Kriyā (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vas (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन — “dwells”

• dhruvam: certainly
• dhruvam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: dhruva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (निश्चयार्थक/particle) — used adverbially “certainly”

Speaker

Pulastya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: (Unnamed) Aśubha-kṣaya Kuṇḍa (Arbuda)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Nṛpottama (king; contextually Yayāti)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: On the bank of a sacred pond, a donor king offers a decorated bull to a brāhmaṇa; the bull is garlanded; celestial beings above record the merit; the water shimmers as a purifier of sins.

Characters & Entities

• Śivagaṅgā-kuṇḍa
• Brāhmaṇa
• Vṛṣabha (bull)
• Svarga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A true tīrtha dissolves sin, and charity performed there—especially gifts supporting dharma—multiplies into vast merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The sin-destroying pond described in this passage: Śivagaṅgā-kuṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Donate a bull (vṛṣabha-dāna) to a brāhmaṇa at the tīrtha to obtain great heavenly merit.