Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 192

Devanagari script

ततो देवनिकायानामेकैकं क्षणमात्रतः । तेषामेव जघानासौ शस्त्रैर्बालान्यथा गुरुः

Transliteration

tato devanikāyānāmekaikaṃ kṣaṇamātrataḥ | teṣāmeva jaghānāsau śastrairbālānyathā guruḥ

Translation

ثم في لحظة واحدة أسقط جموع الآلهة واحدًا بعد واحد—يقطعهم بالسلاح كما يؤدّب المعلّم الصبيان الصغار.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then, thereafter
• tataḥ: Adhikarana (Context/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (indeclinable); काल/अनुक्रम-बोधक (temporal/sequence adverb): ‘thereupon/then’

• deva-nikāyānām: of the groups of gods
• deva-nikāyānām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक) + nikāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; ‘देवानां निकायाः’ इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष; Genitive plural

• eka-ekam: each (one)
• eka-ekam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; अव्ययीभाव-न (reduplication for distributive sense): ‘each one’

• kṣaṇa-mātrataḥ: in just a moment
• kṣaṇa-mātrataḥ: Adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + mātra (प्रातिपदिक) + tas (तसिल्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: तसिलन्त-अव्यय (ablatival adverb); ‘क्षणमात्र’ इति तत्पुरुष; अर्थे: ‘within/for only a moment’

• teṣām: of them
• teṣām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; पुं/नपुंसक; षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; ‘of them’

• eva: indeed, just
• eva: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle); अवधारण (emphasis/restriction)

• jaghāna: slew, struck down
• jaghāna: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: han (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect/परोक्सभूत); प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद; ‘he slew’

• asau: he (that one)
• asau: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adas (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; ‘that (he)’

• śastraiḥ: with weapons
• śastraiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śastra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन; Instrumental plural

• bālān: boys, children
• bālān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (2nd), बहुवचन; Accusative plural

• yathā: as, like
• yathā: Sambandha (Comparison/उपमान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमान/तुलना-बोधक (comparative)

• guruḥ: a teacher
• guruḥ: Upamana (Standard of comparison/उपमान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: guru (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; Nominative singular

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating to the sages (deduced from Māheśvarakhaṇḍa framing)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A single overpowering warrior cuts through successive companies of gods in an instant; the simile is pedagogic—like a guru chastening boys—so the violence is framed as corrective, not merely cruel.

Characters & Entities

• Devas
• Dānava/Daitya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Arrogance of power can make even the divine hosts appear helpless; Purāṇas use such reversals to prepare the reader for the restoring intervention of the supreme divine will.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None is named in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.