Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 4

Devanagari script

भूमिसंलुठनं तेषां तीर्थानामद्भुतं महत् । अभवद्विप्र शार्दूलाः क्षेत्रादीनां च सर्वशः

Transliteration

bhūmisaṃluṭhanaṃ teṣāṃ tīrthānāmadbhutaṃ mahat | abhavadvipra śārdūlāḥ kṣetrādīnāṃ ca sarvaśaḥ

Translation

噫，虎般的婆罗门啊！那些圣渡处（tīrtha）所行的在地上翻滚之礼，奇妙而宏大；一切圣域（kṣetra）等处亦复如是。

Word by Word

• भूमि: earth/ground
• भूमि: —
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूमि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; समासाङ्ग

• संलुठनम्: rolling on the ground
• संलुठनम्: Karta (Subject/Predicate noun)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सम् + लुठ् (धातु)
• Form: ल्युट्-प्रत्ययान्त भाववाचक (verbal noun), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (भूमि-संलुठनम् = rolling on the ground)

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), बहुवचन

• तीर्थानाम्: of the sacred places
• तीर्थानाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• अद्भुतम्: wonderful
• अद्भुतम्: Visheshana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अद्भुत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (to bhūmisaṃluṭhanam)

• महत्: great
• महत्: Visheshana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण

• अभवत्: was/became
• अभवत्: Kriya (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लङ्-लकार (Imperfect/Past), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• विप्र: O brāhmaṇas / learned ones
• विप्र: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन/विशेषण-रूपेण (vocative-like address in context)

• शार्दूलाः: tigers (best ones)
• शार्दूलाः: Karta (Addressed group as subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शार्दूल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• क्षेत्रादीनाम्: of the fields and others
• क्षेत्रादीनाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षेत्र + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः (क्षेत्र-आदि = fields etc.)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय-बोधक

• सर्वशः: everywhere/in every way
• सर्वशः: Kriya-visheshana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सर्वशः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकार/व्याप्ति-वाचक क्रियाविशेषण (adverb of totality)

Speaker

Prahlāda (addressing sages/brāhmaṇas within the narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dvārakā (as sarva-tīrtha-sannidhāna)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Brāhmaṇas/ṛṣis (addressed: vipra-śārdūlāḥ)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Personified tīrthas and kṣetras—radiant, human-like forms with river-goddess and sage-like attributes—roll upon the earth in ecstatic reverence before Dvārakā’s sanctity, while the narrator addresses the brāhmaṇas as ‘vipra-śārdūlāḥ’.

Characters & Entities

• Tīrthas (personified)
• Kṣetras (personified)
• Dvārakā (implied as the focal place)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dvārakā is portrayed as so spiritually eminent that even the holiness of other tīrthas is humbled before it.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Dvārakā, as the place before which other tīrthas and kṣetras display reverence.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

An act of intense devotion is depicted: rolling on the ground (bhūmi-saṃluṭhana) as an expression of humility.