Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 125

Devanagari script

एतदेव भयं मान्य गच्छेयमधमां गतिम् । अस्या अपि कुयोनेश्च संत्यन्याः कोटिशोऽधमाः

Transliteration

etadeva bhayaṃ mānya gaccheyamadhamāṃ gatim | asyā api kuyoneśca saṃtyanyāḥ koṭiśo'dhamāḥ

Translation

হে মান্য মহাত্মা, মোৰ এই একেই ভয়—মই যেন আৰু অধিক অধম গতি লাভ নকৰোঁ। এই নিন্দিত যোনিৰ তলতো কোটি কোটি অধিক নীচ জন্ম আছে।

Word by Word

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• eva: indeed/only
• eva: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• bhayam: fear
• bhayam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• mānya: O venerable one
• mānya: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mānya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन; विशेषण (address)

• gaccheyam: I might go
• gaccheyam: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (गम् धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• adhamām: lowest
• adhamām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: adhama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• gatim: state/destination
• gatim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• asyāḥ: of this (female)/of her
• asyāḥ: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (अयम्/इदम् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• api: also/even
• api: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (additive particle)

• kuyoneḥ: of a bad/low womb (birth)
• kuyoneḥ: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ku-yoni (प्रातिपदिक: ku + yoni)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (कु=दुष्ट/नीच + योनिः)

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

• santi: there are
• santi: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (अस् धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• anyāḥ: other
• anyāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; विशेषण

• koṭiśaḥ: by crores; in tens of millions
• koṭiśaḥ: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: koṭiśas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb: distributive/quantitative)

• adhamāḥ: lowest/most base
• adhamāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: adhama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; विशेषण (predicative)

Speaker

Unspecified narrator (the insect/being)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: a venerable interlocutor (मान्य) within the narrative frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A supplicant voice confesses dread of falling into ever-lower births; the imagery is psychological: a dark, descending ladder of yonis beneath a shadowed cosmos.

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The real terror is endless descent through lower births; it points to the urgency of mokṣa and dharmic uplift.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tirtha is newly praised; the episode remains anchored near the Sarasvatī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse expresses existential fear of further karmic downfall.