Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 20

Devanagari script

नवधा संस्थितस्यास्य नक्षत्राणि निबोध मे । कृत्तिका रोहिणी सौम्यं तृतीयं कूर्मपृष्ठिगम्

Transliteration

navadhā saṃsthitasyāsya nakṣatrāṇi nibodha me | kṛttikā rohiṇī saumyaṃ tṛtīyaṃ kūrmapṛṣṭhigam

Translation

اس (بھارت) کے نو حصّوں میں قائم نَکشتر مجھ سے سمجھ لو۔ کِرتِّکا، روہِنی اور سَومیَہ (مِرگشیِرش)—یہ تینوں کُورم (کچھوے) کی پیٹھ پر قرار دیے گئے ہیں۔

Word by Word

• navadhā: in nine ways
• navadhā: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण/Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nava (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (in nine ways)

• saṃsthitasya: of (him) who is situated
• saṃsthitasya: Shashthi-sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam-√sthā (स्था धातु) (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक: संस्थित)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त) से, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; पुं/नपुंसक; ‘of the situated one’

• asya: of this
• asya: Shashthi-sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी, एकवचन; ‘of this’

• nakṣatrāṇi: the constellations
• nakṣatrāṇi: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nakṣatra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन; अत्र कर्मरूपे (objects to be understood)

• nibodha: understand/learn
• nibodha: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni-√budh (बुध् धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• me: from me
• me: Apadana (अपादान/Source)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी/चतुर्थी, एकवचन; अत्र षष्ठी (from me/of me) = ‘from me’ (speaker)

• kṛttikā: Kṛttikā
• kṛttikā: Karta (कर्ता/List item)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛttikā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; नक्षत्रनाम

• rohiṇī: Rohiṇī
• rohiṇī: Karta (कर्ता/List item)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rohiṇī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; नक्षत्रनाम

• saumyam: Saumya (Mṛgaśīrṣa)
• saumyam: Karta (कर्ता/List item)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saumya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; नक्षत्रनाम (मृगशीर्ष)

• tṛtīyam: the third
• tṛtīyam: Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tṛtīya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; क्रमवाचक विशेषण (the third)

• kūrma-pṛṣṭhigam: situated on the tortoise’s back
• kūrma-pṛṣṭhigam: Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier of saumyam)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kūrma (प्रातिपदिक) + pṛṣṭhi (प्रातिपदिक) + ga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कूर्मस्य पृष्ठि (षष्ठी) + ग (गम्-प्रत्यय/‘going to/located at’) = ‘on the tortoise’s back’

Speaker

Unspecified (contextual narrator within Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (contextual frame)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sage instructs a listener, pointing to a stylized tortoise-shaped Bhārata-map; three star-emblems (Kṛttikā, Rohiṇī, Mṛgaśīrṣa/Saumya) glow on the tortoise’s back, with Prabhāsa’s coastal shrine hinted in the background.

Characters & Entities

• Nakṣatra
• Kṛttikā
• Rohiṇī
• Mṛgaśīrṣa (Saumya)
• Kūrma

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The heavens and the sacred land are interwoven—astral order becomes a contemplative map of dharma within Bhārata.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not a single tirtha; it presents a nakṣatra-based sacred mapping within the Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya narrative frame.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it lists nakṣatras and their placement.