Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 48

Devanagari script

तेन चाराधितं लिंगं कालभैरवनामतः । महता तपसा पूर्वं युगानि च चतुर्द्दशे

Transliteration

tena cārādhitaṃ liṃgaṃ kālabhairavanāmataḥ | mahatā tapasā pūrvaṃ yugāni ca caturddaśe

Translation

由他礼敬那名为“迦罗怖畏罗”（Kālabhairava）的林伽；往昔以大苦行，历经十四劫（yuga）而奉修供养。

Word by Word

• तेन: by him/with that
• तेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे/नपुंसकलिङ्गे, तृतीया (करण), एकवचनम्; सर्वनाम-रूपम् (by him/with that)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-बोधक-निपातः (conjunction)

• आराधितम्: worshipped
• आराधितम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-राध् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्तः (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचनम्; ‘आराधित’ = worshipped

• लिङ्गम्: liṅga (Śiva-emblem)
• लिङ्गम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनम्

• कालभैरव-नामतः: by the name ‘Kālabhairava’
• कालभैरव-नामतः: Sambandha (Qualifier/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कालभैरव (प्रातिपदिक) + नामतः (अव्यय/तद्धित)
• Form: समासः: कालभैरवस्य नाम (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष) + ‘नामतः’ इति अव्ययम् (by name/as named)

• महता: great
• महता: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्गे, तृतीया, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (agreeing with तपसा)

• तपसा: by austerity
• तपसा: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, तृतीया, एकवचनम्

• पूर्वम्: formerly/before
• पूर्वम्: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पूर्वम् (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक-नपुंसक)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्ययम् (adverb of time)

• युगानि: yugas/ages
• युगानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचनम्

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-बोधक-निपातः (conjunction)

• चतुर्दशे: in the fourteenth (i.e., fourteen)
• चतुर्दशे: Adhikarana (Location/Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्दश (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्विगु-समासः (चतुर्दश = fourteen); सप्तमी एकवचनम् (locative: in the fourteenth)

Speaker

Īśvara (Śiva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kālabhairava-liṅga (within Prabhāsa-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Candra (Moon deity) performs severe austerities before a dark-auspicious Kālabhairava-nāma liṅga; time is suggested by cycles of yugas—changing skies, waxing/waning moon, and enduring shrine.

Characters & Entities

• Candra (implied)
• Liṅga
• Kālabhairava

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Steady devotion and tapas directed to Śiva’s Liṅga yields profound spiritual fruit, even across vast spans of time.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa Kṣetra’s Śaiva sacred landscape, where the Liṅga tradition associated with Somanātha is being established.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Worship (ārādhana) of the Liṅga with tapas is highlighted, though no step-by-step vrata is detailed in this verse.