Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 6

Devanagari script

प्रभासे कथिता देवि पंचस्रोताः सरस्वती । यस्याः प्रवाहैः संभिन्नं क्षेत्रं द्वादशयोजनम्

Transliteration

prabhāse kathitā devi paṃcasrotāḥ sarasvatī | yasyāḥ pravāhaiḥ saṃbhinnaṃ kṣetraṃ dvādaśayojanam

Translation

اے دیوی، پربھاس میں سرسوتی کو پانچ دھاراؤں والی کہا گیا ہے۔ اس کے بہاؤ سے بارہ یوجن تک پھیلا ہوا مقدس کھیتر رگوں کی طرح جڑا اور نالیوں میں منقسم ہو جاتا ہے۔

Word by Word

• prabhāse: in Prabhāsa
• prabhāse: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; स्थानवाचक

• kathitā: is described/called
• kathitā: Kriya (Predicate adjective/क्रिया-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √kath (कथ्, कथने)
• Form: कृदन्त-क्त (past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि (is said/called)

• devi: O goddess
• devi: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: devī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• paṃca-srotāḥ: having five streams
• paṃca-srotāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: paṃca (प्रातिपदिक) + srotas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहि (पञ्च स्रोतो यस्याः सा)

• sarasvatī: Sarasvatī (river)
• sarasvatī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarasvatī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• yasyāḥ: of which/of whom
• yasyāḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (यद्-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक सर्वनाम

• pravāhaiḥ: by the flows/streams
• pravāhaiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pravāha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• saṃbhinnaṃ: split/divided
• saṃbhinnaṃ: Kriya (Predicate adjective/क्रिया-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam + √bhid (भिद्, विदारणे)
• Form: कृदन्त-क्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; (kṣetram with)

• kṣetram: the region/field
• kṣetram: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• dvādaśa-yojanam: twelve yojanas (in extent)
• dvādaśa-yojanam: Viśeṣaṇa (Measure qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvādaśa (प्रातिपदिक) + yojana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (द्वादश योजने प्रमाणं यस्य)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Sarasvatī Pañcasrotas)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A map-like sacred panorama: Sarasvatī splitting into five shining streams that braid through a broad kṣetra; small shrines and liṅgas dot the banks; pilgrims traverse bridges and ghāṭas across the channels.

Characters & Entities

• Prabhāsa-kṣetra
• Sarasvatī
• Pañcasrotā (five streams)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A tīrtha is not only a point but a sacred landscape—rivers and their branches shape the field of merit and worship.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra as a twelve-yojana region structured by the five-stream Sarasvatī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription; it provides a pilgrimage-geography description for moving through Prabhāsa’s Sarasvatī channels.