Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 41

Devanagari script

विस्मृत्य चैनं स्वात्मानं केवलं बोधलक्षणम् । संसारिणो हि दृश्यंते समस्ता जीवराशयः

Transliteration

vismṛtya cainaṃ svātmānaṃ kevalaṃ bodhalakṣaṇam | saṃsāriṇo hi dṛśyaṃte samastā jīvarāśayaḥ

Translation

Indem man das eigene Selbst vergisst—dessen Kennzeichen reines Bewusstsein ist—sieht man alle Scharen der Lebewesen als Wanderer im Saṃsāra umherirren.

Word by Word

• vismṛtya: having forgotten
• vismṛtya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: √smṛ (धातु) + vi उपसर्ग, त्वा (क्त्वा)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (absolutive/gerund): पूर्वकालिक क्रिया (having forgotten)

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Coordinator/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• enam: this (one)
• enam: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन (enclitic)

• sva-ātmānam: one's own Self
• sva-ātmānam: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva (प्रातिपदिक) + ātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• kevalam: pure; only
• kevalam: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kevala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण—svātmānam

• bodha-lakṣaṇam: whose mark is consciousness
• bodha-lakṣaṇam: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bodha (प्रातिपदिक) + lakṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण—svātmānam

• saṃsāriṇaḥ: worldly beings; transmigrators
• saṃsāriṇaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃsārin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha-bodhaka (Discourse particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• dṛśyante: are seen; appear
• dṛśyante: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √dṛś (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive sense: are seen)

• samastāḥ: all; entire
• samastāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: samasta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; विशेषण—jīvarāśayaḥ

• jīva-rāśayaḥ: multitudes/collections of living beings
• jīva-rāśayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jīva (प्रातिपदिक) + rāśi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

Speaker

Unspecified (didactic voice in Kedārakhaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kedāra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: seeker/pilgrim

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A compassionate tableau: beings caught in cycles—traveling, aging, grieving—shown as moving in a wheel; above, a clear luminous Self is forgotten; a teacher points upward, offering remembrance.

Characters & Entities

• Svātman
• Saṃsāra
• Jīvas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Bondage is fundamentally forgetfulness of the conscious Self; remembrance and realization are the doorway to freedom.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No single tīrtha is named; the Kedārakhaṇḍa context links the teaching to Kedāra’s liberating Śaiva milieu.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; it implies practices that restore Self-awareness (japa, dhyāna, tīrtha-sevā).