Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

तत्कपालं करे लग्नं प्रभासक्षेत्रमागतः । ततो वर्षसहस्रं तु संस्थितः क्षेत्रमध्यतः

Transliteration

tatkapālaṃ kare lagnaṃ prabhāsakṣetramāgataḥ | tato varṣasahasraṃ tu saṃsthitaḥ kṣetramadhyataḥ

Translation

وہ کھوپڑی ہاتھ سے چمٹی ہوئی لیے ہوئے پربھاس کے مقدس کھیتر میں آیا۔ پھر وہ اسی پُنّیہ کھیتر کے عین وسط میں ہزار برس تک ٹھہرا رہا۔

Word by Word

• tat: that
• tat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying kapālam)

• kapālam: skull
• kapālam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kapāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्म/सम्बन्ध (object carried)

• kare: in (my) hand
• kare: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; अधिकरणे (in the hand)

• lagnam: stuck; attached
• lagnam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: lag (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त/PPP), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying kapālam)

• prabhāsakṣetram: to Prabhāsa-kṣetra
• prabhāsakṣetram: Karma (Goal/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhāsa-kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक; प्रभास + क्षेत्र)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्म (goal as object with āgataḥ)

• āgataḥ: having come; came
• āgataḥ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-gam (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त/PPP used adjectivally), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्तरि-प्रयोगे (I having come)

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Temporal/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb; sequence)

• varṣasahasram: a thousand years
• varṣasahasram: Karma (Extent of time/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa-sahasra (प्रातिपदिक; वर्ष + सहस्र)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; काल-परिमाण (duration as accusative)

• tu: indeed; and
• tu: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle; emphasis/contrast)

• saṃsthitaḥ: remained; stayed
• saṃsthitaḥ: Kriya (State/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-sthā (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त/PPP), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; स्थित-भावः (remained)

• kṣetramadhyataḥ: in the middle of the field
• kṣetramadhyataḥ: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kṣetra-madhya (प्रातिपदिक; क्षेत्र + मध्य)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अव्यय (ablatival adverbial: 'from/at the middle')

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva) (contextual attribution within Prabhāsakṣetra-māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (kṣetra-madhya)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī/Pārvatī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva arrives at Prabhāsa with the skull adhered to his palm, then sits immovable at the kṣetra’s center for a thousand years—an image of stillness amid a living pilgrimage landscape.

Characters & Entities

• Prabhāsa-kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A kṣetra becomes supremely sanctifying when the Lord abides there through sustained tapas and presence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra (Prabhāsakṣetra), the famed sacred region celebrated in the Skanda Purāṇa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is prescribed here; it highlights the Lord’s residence in the kṣetra as the basis of its greatness.