Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 30

Devanagari script

तकारं विन्यसेन्मूर्ध्नि सकारं मुखमण्डले । विकारं कंठदेशे तु तुकारं चांगसंधिषु

Transliteration

takāraṃ vinyasenmūrdhni sakāraṃ mukhamaṇḍale | vikāraṃ kaṃṭhadeśe tu tukāraṃ cāṃgasaṃdhiṣu

Translation

سالک کو چاہیے کہ ‘ت’ حرف سر کے تاج پر رکھے، ‘س’ کو چہرے کے حلقے میں؛ ‘وِ’ کو حلق میں، اور ‘تُ’ کو اعضا کے جوڑوں پر نِیاس کرے۔

Word by Word

• तकारम्: the letter ‘ta’
• तकारम्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: takāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; ‘त्’-वर्णः

• विन्यसेत्: should place
• विन्यसेत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-√न्यस् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), तृतीयपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• मूर्ध्नि: on the head
• मूर्ध्नि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mūrdhan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• सकारम्: the letter ‘sa’
• सकारम्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sakāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘स्’-वर्णः

• मुखमण्डले: on the face-region
• मुखमण्डले: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mukha (प्रातिपदिक) + maṇḍala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन; समास: मुखस्य मण्डलम् (face-region)

• विकारम्: the letter ‘vi’
• विकारम्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vikāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘वि’-वर्णः

• कण्ठदेशे: in the throat area
• कण्ठदेशे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kaṇṭha (प्रातिपदिक) + deśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; समास: कण्ठस्य देशः (throat area)

• तु: and/indeed
• तु: Sambandha-bodhaka (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात/particle): emphasis/contrast

• तुकारम्: the letter ‘tu’
• तुकारम्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tukāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘तु’-वर्णः

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय/ conjunction)

• अङ्गसन्धिषु: at the limb-joints
• अङ्गसन्धिषु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aṅga (प्रातिपदिक) + sandhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, बहुवचन; समास: अङ्गानां सन्धयः (joints of the limbs)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya narrative context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim-priest seated facing a liṅga at Prabhāsa, touching crown, face, throat, and limb-joints in sequence, with subtle luminous syllables appearing at each touched locus.

Characters & Entities

• Nyāsa
• Bīja-syllables (ta/sa/vi/tu)
• Praṇava (context)
• Brahmā (contextual deity)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The body is treated as a sacred field—mantra-nyāsa consecrates each region, making worship an embodied discipline.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra, where such detailed mantra-ritual is taught as part of its māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Assign specific syllables by nyāsa: ‘ta’ on the head, ‘sa’ on the face, ‘vi’ on the throat, and ‘tu’ on the limb-joints.