Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

स्वतेजसा द्योतयंती सर्वमाभासयज्जगत् । अनुव्रजंती गंगा वै तयोक्ता वरवर्णिनि

Transliteration

svatejasā dyotayaṃtī sarvamābhāsayajjagat | anuvrajaṃtī gaṃgā vai tayoktā varavarṇini

Translation

她以自身光辉照耀，映照遍满世界；恒河女神伽ṅ伽随行其后——于是她对她说道：“噢，肤色最为姝丽者。”

Word by Word

• sva-tejasā: by (her) own radiance
• sva-tejasā: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva (प्रातिपदिक) + tejas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः—“स्वस्य तेजसा” (by her own radiance)

• dyotayantī: illuminating
• dyotayantī: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Participial predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dyotaya (धातु √dyut/द्युत्, causative)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले कृदन्तः (शतृ), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; “प्रकाशयन्ती”

• sarvam: all, entire
• sarvam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; “jagat” इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• ābhāsayat: made shine, illuminated
• ābhāsayat: Kriyā (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ābhāsaya (धातु √bhās/भास्, causative with ā-)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/Past), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; “आभासयत्” (made shine)

• jagat: the world
• jagat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jagat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• anuvrajantī: following
• anuvrajantī: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Participial predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: anu-vraj (धातु √vraj/व्रज् with उपसर्ग anu-)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले कृदन्तः (शतृ), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; “अनुगच्छन्ती”

• gaṅgā: Ganga
• gaṅgā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gaṅgā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निश्चयार्थक/पदार्थनिश्चायक (emphatic particle)

• tayā: by her
• tayā: Karaṇa/Agent-in-passive (Instrumental agent)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• uktā: addressed, spoken to
• uktā: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Participial predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु √vac/वच्)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्तः (क्त), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे—“उक्ता” (having been spoken/addressed)

• vara-varṇini: O beautiful one
• vara-varṇini: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vara (प्रातिपदिक) + varṇinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः—“वरा च सा वर्णिनी” (O fair/beautiful one)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva) as narrator (continued)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Implied interlocutor(s); the vocative ‘varavarṇini’ suggests addressing a revered feminine listener within the frame (not fully specified here)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sarasvatī radiates, lighting the world; behind her flows/appears Gaṅgā as a following goddess/river-personification, suggesting a moving confluence of knowledge and purification.

Characters & Entities

• Sarasvatī
• Gaṅgā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Holy rivers are divine persons; their companionship signifies the unity of tīrthas and the spread of sanctity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsakṣetra, where the river-goddess traditions converge in the māhātmya narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse supports the tīrtha-idea that river presence itself sanctifies pilgrimage and snāna.