Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

तत्राऽकरोत्तपो घोरं दिव्याब्दानां सहस्रकम् । संस्थाप्य तु महालिंगं सिसृक्षुर्विविधाः प्रजाः

Transliteration

tatrā'karottapo ghoraṃ divyābdānāṃ sahasrakam | saṃsthāpya tu mahāliṃgaṃ sisṛkṣurvividhāḥ prajāḥ

Translation

وہاں اُس نے ہزار الٰہی برسوں تک سخت تپسیا کی؛ پھر مہا لِنگ کی स्थापना کرکے، وہ گوناگوں مخلوقات کی تخلیق کا ارادہ کرنے لگا۔

Word by Word

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• अकरोत्: did; performed
• अकरोत्: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/past), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपद

• तपः: austerity; penance
• तपः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन (singular)

• घोरम्: terrible; intense
• घोरम्: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन (singular)

• दिव्याब्दानाम्: of divine years
• दिव्याब्दानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिव्य- + अब्द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), षष्ठी (6th case), बहुवचन (plural)

• सहस्रकम्: a thousand (as a set)
• सहस्रकम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्रक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन (singular)

• संस्थाप्य: having स्थापित/established
• संस्थाप्य: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-स्था (धातु) + ल्यप् (अव्ययीभाव/क्त्वा-सम)
• Form: ल्यप्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive), पूर्वक्रिया (having established)

• तु: then; indeed
• तु: Sambandha/Emphasis (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle)

• महालिङ्गम्: the great liṅga
• महालिङ्गम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा- + लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन (singular)

• सिसृक्षुः: wishing to create
• सिसृक्षुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सृज् (धातु) + सन् (इच्छार्थक)
• Form: सन्नन्त-प्रातिपदिक (desiderative) ‘सिसृक्षु’ (desiring to create), पुंलिङ्ग (m.), प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन (singular)

• विविधाः: various
• विविधाः: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन (plural)

• प्रजाः: creatures; beings
• प्रजाः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन (plural)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Somanātha area)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Varānanā (addressed as ‘O fair-faced one’ in the passage sequence)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Brahmā (or the cosmic agent of creation) performs fierce tapas in the luminous coastal Prabhāsa; a great liṅga is set upon a sanctified pedestal, with the sea-breeze, sacrificial fires, and the sense of impending creation of beings.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā (implied)
• Mahāliṅga
• Prabhāsa Kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Creation and spiritual authority are grounded in tapas and worship: austerity culminates in स्थापना of the liṅga, linking cosmic activity to devotion.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa Kṣetra (the Somanātha-region), where Brahmā’s austerity and installation of a great liṅga are narrated.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Installation (saṃsthāpana) and worship of a Mahāliṅga are implied, along with the ideal of sustained tapas as a purifying discipline.