Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 39

Devanagari script

यथायथा महामांसं स भक्षयति राघव । तथातथा पुनः कायं तद्रूपं तत्प्रजायते

Transliteration

yathāyathā mahāmāṃsaṃ sa bhakṣayati rāghava | tathātathā punaḥ kāyaṃ tadrūpaṃ tatprajāyate

Translation

O Raghava, auf welche Weise er auch jenes Fleisch verzehrt, auf eben diese Weise nimmt sein Körper wieder Gestalt an und wird von gleicher Art und Form.

Word by Word

• yathā-yathā: as and as; in whatever measure
• yathā-yathā: Kriya-vishesana (Correlative adverb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (यथाक्रम/अनुपातबोधक) — पुनरुक्ति: 'as...as/according as'

• mahā-māṃsam: the large flesh (mass of meat)
• mahā-māṃsam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (उपसर्ग/विशेषण-प्रातिपदिक) + māṃsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समास: 'महच्च तत् मांसम्'

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन

• bhakṣayati: eats; devours
• bhakṣayati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhakṣ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान/Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• rāghava: O Rāghava
• rāghava: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāghava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन विभक्ति (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• tathā-tathā: so and so; correspondingly
• tathā-tathā: Kriya-vishesana (Correlative adverb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (तथाक्रम/अनुपातबोधक) — पुनरुक्ति: 'so...so/in that same measure'

• punaḥ: again; in turn
• punaḥ: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: punaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (पुनरावृत्तिबोधक-क्रियाविशेषण)

• kāyam: the body
• kāyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• tad-rūpam: of that form; such-formed
• tad-rūpam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: 'तस्य रूपम्' (as adjective: 'of that form')

• tat: that
• tat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; अत्र विशेषणरूपेण (referring to kāya/rūpa)

• prajāyate: is produced; comes into being
• prajāyate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√jan (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान/Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

Speaker

Agastya (narrator, addressing Rāghava within the story-context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Rāghava

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A wondrous metamorphosis: as the being consumes flesh, his own body reconstitutes in matching form—suggesting a mirror-like law of embodiment.

Characters & Entities

• Rāghava

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Actions (especially impure or forbidden consumption) shape one’s embodied condition; karma expresses itself as corresponding results.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse sits within a Tīrthamāhātmya episode connected to a pond/tank (taḍāga) setting; the exact tīrtha name is not stated in this single shloka.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual is prescribed here; it describes karmic causality affecting the body.