Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 2

Devanagari script

लिंगं महाप्रभावं हि सुरगन्धर्वपूजितम् । यदा देवी समायाता वडवानलधारिणी

Transliteration

liṃgaṃ mahāprabhāvaṃ hi suragandharvapūjitam | yadā devī samāyātā vaḍavānaladhāriṇī

Translation

此林伽确具大威德，为诸天与乾闼婆所礼敬。当天女降临其处，携带“瓦达瓦那罗”（海底之火）之时……

Word by Word

• liṅgam: the liṅga
• liṅgam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: liṅga (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; here nominative singular as subject/topic

• mahā-prabhāvam: of great power
• mahā-prabhāvam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदik) + prabhāva (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; agreeing with liṅgam

• hi: indeed/for
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (causal/emphatic particle)

• sura-gandharva-pūjitam: worshipped by gods and Gandharvas
• sura-gandharva-pūjitam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sura (प्रातिपदik) + gandharva (प्रातिपदik) + pūjita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदik)
• Form: द्वन्द्व (सुराश्च गन्धर्वाश्च) + तत्पुरुष (तैः पूजितम्); क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; agreeing with liṅgam

• yadā: when
• yadā: Sambandha (Temporal link/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (temporal conjunction)

• devī: the goddess
• devī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: devī (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; nominative singular

• samāyātā: arrived
• samāyātā: Kriyā (Predicate complement/क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam-ā-yā (धा॒तु) + tā (क्त/क्तवतु-भाव)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (PPP); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; agreeing with devī; ‘having arrived’

• vaḍavā-anala-dhāriṇī: bearing the submarine fire (Vaḍavānala)
• vaḍavā-anala-dhāriṇī: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vaḍavā (प्रातिपदik) + anala (प्रातिपदik) + dhāriṇī (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (वडवानलम् धारयति इति); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; agreeing with devī

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva) (carried from Adhyāya 66 opening)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Arghyeśvara

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (Pārvatī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A radiant liṅga shrine where devas and gandharvas offer flowers and sing; Devī arrives bearing the symbolism of submarine fire—an aura of blue-black oceanic depth with a contained inner flame.

Characters & Entities

• Arghyeśvara Liṅga
• Devi
• Devas
• Gandharvas
• Vaḍavānala

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A tīrtha’s greatness is validated by divine worship and by mythic events that reveal the site’s extraordinary śakti.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Arghyeśvara Mahāliṅga in Prabhāsa Kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly here; it introduces the mythic context leading to the liṅga’s name and worship.