Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 57
जडवद्वर्त्तमानः स मातृकां प्रत्यपद्यत । पठित्वा मातृकामन्यन्नाध्येति स कथंचन
jaḍavadvarttamānaḥ sa mātṛkāṃ pratyapadyata | paṭhitvā mātṛkāmanyannādhyeti sa kathaṃcana
সেই পুত্ৰ জড়বুদ্ধিৰ দৰে আচৰণ কৰিছিল আৰু কেৱল মাতৃকা—অক্ষৰমালা—শিকাতেই লাগিল। অক্ষৰ পঢ়ি শেষ কৰিলেও সি কোনো মতে আগলৈ অধ্যয়ন কৰিব নোৱাৰিলে।
Narrator (contextual, likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa in Māheśvarakhaṇḍa frame)
Listener: dvija (brāhmaṇa interlocutor)
Scene: A young boy sits before a teacher with a writing board/palm leaf, repeatedly tracing letters; the father-scholar watches with mixed concern and restraint; the scene carries gentle irony rather than cruelty.
FAQs
Mere basics are not the goal; learning should mature into understanding and transformation, not stop at form.
No holy site is referenced in this verse.
None; it describes a person’s inability to advance in study.