Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 2

Devanagari script

ईश्वर उवाच । अमा षोडशभेदेन देवि प्रोक्ता महाकला । संस्थिता परमा माया देहिनां देह धारिणी

Transliteration

īśvara uvāca | amā ṣoḍaśabhedena devi proktā mahākalā | saṃsthitā paramā māyā dehināṃ deha dhāriṇī

Translation

ایشور نے فرمایا: اے دیوی! اما کو مہاکلا کہا گیا ہے، جو سولہ طرح کے بھیدوں میں بیان کی گئی ہے۔ وہ پرم مایا کے روپ میں قائم ہے، جو جسم والے جیووں کو انہی کے جسم کو سنبھال کر تھامے رکھتی ہے۔

Word by Word

• īśvaraḥ: Īśvara (the Lord)
• īśvaraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriyā (Verbal predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: Liṭ-lakāra (Perfect), Prathama-puruṣa, Ekavacana, Parasmaipada

• amā: new-moon night (amāvāsyā)
• amā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: amā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana

• ṣoḍaśa-bhedena: by (its) sixteenfold division
• ṣoḍaśa-bhedena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ṣoḍaśa (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + bheda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa-samāsa (ṣoḍaśānāṃ bhedaḥ), Puṃliṅga, Tṛtīyā-vibhakti, Ekavacana

• devi: O देवी
• devi: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: devī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Sambodhana-vibhakti, Ekavacana

• proktā: is declared
• proktā: Kriyā (Verbal predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु) + pra- (उपसर्ग) + -ta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: Kṛdanta (Past Passive Participle/क्त), Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana; predicative: 'is said/declared'

• mahākalā: the great digit/phase
• mahākalā: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (Apposition/समनाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + kalā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Karmadhāraya-samāsa (mahā ca sā kalā), Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana; apposition to amā

• saṃsthitā: established/abiding
• saṃsthitā: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sthā (धातु) + sam- (उपसर्ग) + -ta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: Kṛdanta (Past Passive Participle/क्त), Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana; qualifies māyā

• paramā: supreme
• paramā: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana; qualifies māyā

• māyā: māyā (illusion/power)
• māyā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana

• dehinām: of embodied beings
• dehinām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dehin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (generic), Ṣaṣṭhī-vibhakti, Bahuvacana

• deha: body
• deha: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deha (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Dvitīyā-vibhakti, Ekavacana; object of dhāriṇī (bearing)

• dhāriṇī: bearing/holding
• dhāriṇī: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dhṛ (धातु) + -in (इनि प्रत्यय)
• Form: Kṛdanta (Agent noun/adjectival -in), Strīliṅga, Prathamā-vibhakti, Ekavacana; qualifies māyā

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Īśvara answers Devī: Amā is Mahā-kalā, sixteenfold, abiding as supreme Māyā that upholds embodied beings and their bodies.

Characters & Entities

• Īśvara
• Devī
• Amā
• Mahākalā
• Māyā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Time (kalā) is not merely measurement; it is the divine power (Māyā) by which embodied life is sustained and ordered.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching occurs within the Prabhāsakṣetra Māhātmya, framing Prabhāsa as a sacred landscape where cosmic principles like time are revealed.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is prescribed here; the verse establishes the theology of tithis/kalās as divine power.