Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

स्वतेजसा द्योतयंती सर्वमाभासयज्जगत् । अनुव्रजंती गंगा वै तयोक्ता वरवर्णिनि

Transliteration

svatejasā dyotayaṃtī sarvamābhāsayajjagat | anuvrajaṃtī gaṃgā vai tayoktā varavarṇini

Translation

اپنے ہی نور سے درخشاں ہو کر وہ سارے جگت کو روشن کرتی تھی؛ گنگا بھی اس کے پیچھے پیچھے چلتی رہی—یوں اس نے کہا، اے نہایت حسین رنگت والی۔

Word by Word

• sva-tejasā: by (her) own radiance
• sva-tejasā: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva (प्रातिपदिक) + tejas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः—“स्वस्य तेजसा” (by her own radiance)

• dyotayantī: illuminating
• dyotayantī: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Participial predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dyotaya (धातु √dyut/द्युत्, causative)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले कृदन्तः (शतृ), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; “प्रकाशयन्ती”

• sarvam: all, entire
• sarvam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; “jagat” इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• ābhāsayat: made shine, illuminated
• ābhāsayat: Kriyā (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ābhāsaya (धातु √bhās/भास्, causative with ā-)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/Past), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; “आभासयत्” (made shine)

• jagat: the world
• jagat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jagat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• anuvrajantī: following
• anuvrajantī: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Participial predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: anu-vraj (धातु √vraj/व्रज् with उपसर्ग anu-)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले कृदन्तः (शतृ), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; “अनुगच्छन्ती”

• gaṅgā: Ganga
• gaṅgā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gaṅgā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निश्चयार्थक/पदार्थनिश्चायक (emphatic particle)

• tayā: by her
• tayā: Karaṇa/Agent-in-passive (Instrumental agent)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• uktā: addressed, spoken to
• uktā: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Participial predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु √vac/वच्)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्तः (क्त), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे—“उक्ता” (having been spoken/addressed)

• vara-varṇini: O beautiful one
• vara-varṇini: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vara (प्रातिपदिक) + varṇinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः—“वरा च सा वर्णिनी” (O fair/beautiful one)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva) as narrator (continued)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Implied interlocutor(s); the vocative ‘varavarṇini’ suggests addressing a revered feminine listener within the frame (not fully specified here)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sarasvatī radiates, lighting the world; behind her flows/appears Gaṅgā as a following goddess/river-personification, suggesting a moving confluence of knowledge and purification.

Characters & Entities

• Sarasvatī
• Gaṅgā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Holy rivers are divine persons; their companionship signifies the unity of tīrthas and the spread of sanctity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra, where the river-goddess traditions converge in the māhātmya narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse supports the tīrtha-idea that river presence itself sanctifies pilgrimage and snāna.