Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

मत्प्रियार्थं तु शक्रेण प्रेषिता मुनिसत्तम । मन्दाकिनीति विख्याता नदी त्रैलोक्यपाविनी

Transliteration

matpriyārthaṃ tu śakreṇa preṣitā munisattama | mandākinīti vikhyātā nadī trailokyapāvinī

Translation

噢，最胜牟尼，为了我所珍爱的缘故，释迦罗（因陀罗）遣来一条河流——名闻为曼陀吉尼（Mandākinī）——能净化三界。

Word by Word

• matpriyārtham: for my dear purpose / for my sake
• matpriyārtham: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mad (मद्/अस्मद्) + priya (प्रिय) + artha (अर्थ)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: मत्-प्रियः + अर्थः); पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन; प्रयोजनार्थे (for the sake of)

• tu: indeed / but
• tu: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधान/विरोधार्थक-निपात (particle: but/indeed)

• śakreṇa: by Śakra (Indra)
• śakreṇa: Karta (Agent in passive/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śakra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), एकवचन

• preṣitā: was sent
• preṣitā: Kriya (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√iṣ (इष् धातु) / √preṣ (प्रेष् causative sense) + kta (क्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे ‘sent’

• munisattama: O best of sages
• munisattama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muni (मुनि) + sattama (सत्तम)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन

• mandākinī: Mandākinī
• mandākinī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mandākinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन

• iti: thus (named)
• iti: Sambandha (Name-quoting/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; इति-शब्दः (quotative marker)

• vikhyātā: is renowned / is known
• vikhyātā: Kriya (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-√khyā (ख्या धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘renowned/known’

• nadī: river
• nadī: Karta (Appositional subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nadī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन; समनाधिकरणे (apposition to mandākinī)

• trailokyapāvinī: purifier of the three worlds
• trailokyapāvinī: Karta-visheṣaṇa (Adjectival to subject/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri (त्रि) + loka (लोक) + pāvinī (पाविनी; √pū पू धातु + णिनि/इनी)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (त्रैलोक्यं पावयति इति); स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण (to nadī)

Speaker

Śiva (Maheśvara)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mandākinī

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: muni-sattama

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Indra, at Śiva’s behest or for Śiva’s beloved purpose, causes a luminous river to descend/flow into the kṣetra; celestial beings witness the birth of a sacred stream labeled Mandākinī.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Śakra (Indra)
• Mandākinī
• Trailokya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred waters are not merely natural—they are portrayed as divinely commissioned for purification and dharmic uplift.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Mandākinī associated with the Arbuda sacred landscape (Mount Abu) and its Śaiva sanctity.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, reverence for and ritual use of the Mandākinī as a purifying tīrtha.