Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 36

Devanagari script

तैः पंचदशभिः पक्षः पक्षाभ्यां मास उच्यते । मासैश्चैवायनं षङ्भिरब्दं स्यादयनद्वयात्

Transliteration

taiḥ paṃcadaśabhiḥ pakṣaḥ pakṣābhyāṃ māsa ucyate | māsaiścaivāyanaṃ ṣaṅbhirabdaṃ syādayanadvayāt

Translation

以十五日为一半月（pakṣa）；两半月称为一月。以六个月为一“ayana”（半年）；两“ayana”合为一年。

Word by Word

• taiḥ: by those (units)
• taiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• paṃcadaśabhiḥ: by fifteen
• paṃcadaśabhiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: paṃcadaśan (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्या-विशेषणम्; तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• pakṣaḥ: a fortnight
• pakṣaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• pakṣābhyām: by two fortnights
• pakṣābhyām: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), द्विवचन

• māsaḥ: a month
• māsaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• ucyate: is called
• ucyate: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि प्रयोग (passive)

• māsaiḥ: by months
• māsaiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• eva: indeed/just
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक-अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• ayanam: an ayana (half-year)
• ayanam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ayana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd Nom/Acc), एकवचन

• ṣaṅbhiḥ: by six
• ṣaṅbhiḥ: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣaṣ (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्या-विशेषणम्; तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• abdam: a year
• abdam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: abda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd Nom/Acc), एकवचन

• syāt: would be/is to be
• syāt: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• ayana-dvayāt: from two ayanas (i.e., by two half-years)
• ayana-dvayāt: Apādāna (Source/Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ayana (प्रातिपदिक) + dvaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (अयनयोः द्वयम्); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन

Speaker

Unspecified (Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya narrator)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devasenā

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A ‘kāla-cakra’ wheel: 15-day pakṣas forming months, months forming ayanas, ayanas forming a year; sun’s northward/southward course shown, with pilgrims arriving in favorable season.

Characters & Entities

• Pakṣa
• Māsa
• Ayana
• Abda (year)
• Kāla

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred time is ordered into calendrical cycles, providing the framework for pilgrimage seasons, vratas, and festival dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa kṣetra is the overarching context; the verse defines calendar units used for religious observances.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; it lays out the time divisions that commonly govern vratas and tīrtha-yātrā timing.