Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 9

Devanagari script

सर्वान्केशान्समुद्धृत्य च्छेदयेदंगुलद्वयम् । ततो देवान्विधानेन तर्प्पयेत्पितृदेवताः

Transliteration

sarvānkeśānsamuddhṛtya cchedayedaṃguladvayam | tato devānvidhānena tarppayetpitṛdevatāḥ

Translation

تمام بال سمیٹ کر دو انگلیوں کے برابر کاٹ دے۔ پھر مقررہ وِدھی کے مطابق دیوتاؤں اور پِتر دیوتاؤں کو ترپن دے کر راضی کرے۔

Word by Word

• सर्वान्: all
• सर्वान्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (केशान्) ‘all’

• केशान्: hairs
• केशान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: केश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), बहुवचन

• समुद्धृत्य: having uprooted/removed
• समुद्धृत्य: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-उद्√हृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (absolutive) ‘having pulled up/removed’

• च्छेदयेत्: should cut
• च्छेदयेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √छिद् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; ‘should cut’

• अङ्गुलद्वयम्: two fingers’ breadth
• अङ्गुलद्वयम्: Karma/Measure (कर्म-प्रमाण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्गुलि + द्वय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; प्रमाणार्थकं ‘two finger-breadths’

• ततः: then; thereafter
• ततः: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, क्रम/अपादानार्थक (then/thereafter)

• देवान्: the gods
• देवान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), बहुवचन

• विधानेन: by the prescribed procedure
• विधानेन: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विधान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; ‘according to rule/with prescribed procedure’

• तर्प्पयेत्: should satisfy/offer libations to
• तर्प्पयेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √तृप् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; ‘should satisfy (with offerings)’

• पितृदेवताः: ancestral deities (pitṛs)
• पितृदेवताः: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ + देवता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म) बहुवचन (तर्प्पयेत् इत्यस्य कर्म); ‘the ancestral deities’

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced from Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa māhātmya narration style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: The addressed woman pilgrim

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim gathers her hair and trims it to a measured length, then stands at the water’s edge offering tarpaṇa with cupped hands, invoking devas and pitṛs; vessels and darbha visible.

Characters & Entities

• Devas
• Pitṛs (ancestral deities)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Outer purification (grooming/renunciation markers) should be joined with inner dharma through proper offerings to devas and pitṛs.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra, within the Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa’s Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, associated with sacred coastal rites.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A prescribed hair-cutting measure followed by tarpaṇa (libations) to gods and ancestors according to rule.