Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 32

Devanagari script

कन्याविक्रयकर्त्तारः कन्यानां जीवभंजकाः । पुरीषमध्यगा ह्येते पच्यंते मम किंकरैः

Transliteration

kanyāvikrayakarttāraḥ kanyānāṃ jīvabhaṃjakāḥ | purīṣamadhyagā hyete pacyaṃte mama kiṃkaraiḥ

Translation

جو کنواری لڑکیوں کو بیچتے ہیں اور جو ان کی جان کو توڑ ڈالتے ہیں، وہ گندگی کے بیچ پکائے جاتے ہیں—میرے یم دوتوں کے ہاتھوں عذاب پاتے ہیں۔

Word by Word

• कन्या-विक्रय-कर्त्तारः: sellers of daughters
• कन्या-विक्रय-कर्त्तारः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कन्या (प्रातिपदिक) + विक्रय (प्रातिपदिक) + कर्तृ (प्रातिपदिक; from √कृ धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष समास; कर्तृ-शब्द (agent noun)

• कन्यानाम्: of daughters
• कन्यानाम्: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कन्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन

• जीव-भंजकाः: destroyers of life
• जीव-भंजकाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जीव (प्रातिपदिक) + भंजक (प्रातिपदिक; from √भञ्ज् धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष समास; ‘भंजक’ = breaker/destroyer

• पुरीष-मध्य-गाः: having entered the midst of filth
• पुरीष-मध्य-गाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पुरीष (प्रातिपदिक) + मध्य (प्रातिपदिक) + ग (कृदन्त; √गम् धातु, क्त/प्रत्यय ‘ग’ as ‘gone/entered’)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; कृदन्त ‘ग’ = gone/entered; तत्पुरुष समास

• हि: indeed
• हि: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निश्चयार्थक निपात (indeed)

• एते: these (people)
• एते: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• पच्यन्ते: are cooked/tormented (as if cooked)
• पच्यन्ते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √पच् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोग (Passive)

• मम: of me/my
• मम: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (genitive)

• किंकरैः: by (my) servants
• किंकरैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किंकर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), बहुवचन; करण (instrument)

Speaker

Yama

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: a brāhmaṇa interlocutor (addressed as dvijottama)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A grim Yama-loka tableau: offenders who sold or destroyed the lives of maidens are forced to suffer amid filth, driven by Yamadūtas; the scene is didactic, emphasizing moral horror rather than spectacle.

Characters & Entities

• Yama

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Exploitation of vulnerable persons—especially commodifying or harming girls—is treated as extreme adharma with severe karmic return.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra is the māhātmya setting; the verse supports moral purification associated with sacred travel and residence.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a condemnation of exploitative conduct rather than a ritual instruction.