Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 60

Devanagari script

विधाय लेखनीं कर्णे चित्रगुप्तो यमाज्ञया । ततो हूता गणाः सर्वे ये नीता धरणीतलात्

Transliteration

vidhāya lekhanīṃ karṇe citragupto yamājñayā | tato hūtā gaṇāḥ sarve ye nītā dharaṇītalāt

Translation

یم کے حکم سے چترگپت نے قلمِ تحریر کان پر رکھ لیا، یعنی لکھنے کو تیار ہو گیا۔ پھر وہ تمام گن بلائے گئے جو زمین کی سطح سے لائے گئے تھے۔

Word by Word

• vidhāya: having placed/arranged
• vidhāya: Kriyā (Gerundial action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-√dhā धा (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund) अव्यय; पूर्वकालिक क्रिया

• lekhanīm: a stylus/pen
• lekhanīm: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lekhanī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• karṇe: in the ear
• karṇe: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: karṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरण (location)

• citraguptaḥ: Citragupta
• citraguptaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: citragupta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• yamājñayā: by Yama’s order
• yamājñayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yama (प्रातिपदिक) + ājñā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (yamasya ājñā) ‘by Yama’s command’

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Adverbial (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; अनन्तरार्थक (then/thereupon)

• hūtāḥ: were summoned
• hūtāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √hū ह्वे (धातु)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; ‘called/summoned’

• gaṇāḥ: groups/attendants
• gaṇāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• sarve: all
• sarve: Visheshana (Adjectival)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; विशेषण (qualifier of gaṇāḥ)

• ye: who
• ye: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative pronoun)

• nītāḥ: were led
• nītāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √nī नी (धातु)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; ‘led/brought’

• dharaṇītalāt: from the surface of the earth
• dharaṇītalāt: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharaṇī-tala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन; अपादान (source)

Speaker

Rudra (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vastrāpatha-kṣetra (merit-source)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Citragupta, poised with stylus at his ear, prepares to record; Yama commands from his buffalo-seat; gaṇas arrive in ranks, summoned from earth, forming a celestial assembly around the devotee’s passage.

Characters & Entities

• Citragupta
• Yama
• Gaṇas
• Earth (dharaṇī-tala)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Cosmic justice operates through Yama and Citragupta, yet devotion can bring higher divine intervention into that process.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Indirectly, the verse belongs to the sacred-history thread that exalts Vastrāpathakṣetra’s Śaiva shrines (notably Citraguptēśvara/Indreśvara).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it depicts the administrative-symbolic act of recording and summoning within Yama’s domain.