Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 12

Devanagari script

अतीतेषु च देवेशि ब्रह्मसुप्तलयादनु । बभूवुर्यानि नामानि तानि त्वं शृणु पार्वति

Transliteration

atīteṣu ca deveśi brahmasuptalayādanu | babhūvuryāni nāmāni tāni tvaṃ śṛṇu pārvati

Translation

Và, ô Devī—sau những lần tan hoại tiếp theo “giấc ngủ” của Phạm Thiên—những danh hiệu nào (của Chúa tại Prabhāsa) đã khởi lên trong các chu kỳ quá khứ, nay hãy lắng nghe, ô Pārvatī.

Word by Word

• atīteṣu: when (they) had passed
• atīteṣu: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ati + i (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त (भूतकर्मणि/PPP) ‘अतीत’ = passed; पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय)

• deveśi: O Lady of the gods
• deveśi: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deveśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• brahmasuptalayāt: from the dissolution (during) Brahmā's sleep
• brahmasuptalayāt: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahma (प्रातिपदिक) + supta (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक) + laya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (brahma-supta-laya = dissolution during Brahmā's sleep), पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन

• anu: after
• anu: Sambandha (Sequence/अनु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (अनुगमन/after; preposition)

• babhūvuḥ: came to be
• babhūvuḥ: Kriya (Main verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• yāni: which
• yāni: Karta (Relative subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन (relative pronoun)

• nāmāni: names
• nāmāni: Karta (Subject complement/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• tāni: those
• tāni: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन (correlative pronoun)

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (Listener/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: त्रिलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• śṛṇu: listen
• śṛṇu: Kriya (Command/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: śru (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• pārvati: O Pārvatī
• pārvati: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pārvatī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

Speaker

Śiva (addressing Pārvatī)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pārvatī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Parvatī sits in attentive śravaṇa as Śiva prepares to enumerate ancient epithets; behind them, a symbolic ‘sleep of Brahmā’ and dissolving worlds fade into a calm void.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Pārvatī
• Brahmā
• Pralaya (dissolution)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred tradition preserves divine epithets across cosmic time, guiding devotees to recognize the Lord’s eternal presence in a specific holy geography.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra, where the Lord is praised through multiple time-bound names.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse; it introduces a doctrinal list (nāma-kathana) rather than a vrata or dāna.