Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 42

Devanagari script

यथा मे भ्रमरो जातो गुरुस्तद्वद्वदामि च । कस्मिन्वृक्षे मया दृष्टो भ्रमरः कोऽपि संगतः

Transliteration

yathā me bhramaro jāto gurustadvadvadāmi ca | kasminvṛkṣe mayā dṛṣṭo bhramaraḥ ko'pi saṃgataḥ

Translation

So wie eine Biene mein Guru wurde, so will auch ich sprechen. An welchem Baum sah ich jene Biene—der ich dort irgendwie begegnete?

Word by Word

• yathā: just as
• yathā: Sambandha (Comparative link/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमान/प्रकारवाचक अव्यय (as/just as)

• me: my
• me: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive) वा चतुर्थी (4th/Dative) एकवचन; अत्र षष्ठी (my)

• bhramaraḥ: bee
• bhramaraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhramara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• jātaḥ: became
• jātaḥ: Kriyā (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jan (धातु) + ta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (PPP) अर्थे ‘born/became’, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• guruḥ: teacher
• guruḥ: Pradhāna-predication (Predicate nominative/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: guru (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• tadvat: likewise
• tadvat: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadvat (अव्यय)
• Form: तद्वत्-प्रकारवाचक अव्यय (in that manner/likewise)

• vadāmi: I say
• vadāmi: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vad (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद

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

• kasmin: in which
• kasmin: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• vṛkṣe: in/on a tree
• vṛkṣe: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛkṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया, एकवचन

• dṛṣṭaḥ: was seen
• dṛṣṭaḥ: Kriyā (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (धातु) + ta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (PPP), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे ‘was seen’

• bhramaraḥ: a bee
• bhramaraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhramara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• kaḥ: who
• kaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• api: some, even
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अपि-कारक अव्यय (particle: even/some)

• saṃgataḥ: met/encountered
• saṃgataḥ: Kriyā (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam + gam (धातु) + ta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (PPP) अर्थे ‘met/associated’, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

Unspecified (deduced: first-person narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Brāhmaṇa interlocutor

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A large flowering tree with a beehive; a wandering ascetic looks up as a bee moves among blossoms. The scene is poised at the start of a teaching-story, with the tree as a sacred witness.

Characters & Entities

• Bhramara (bee)
• Guru
• Vṛkṣa (tree)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The seeker learns dharma from living examples; even a bee can illustrate disciplined seeking and non-hoarding.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is specified in this verse; it sets up a narrative illustration within the tīrtha-māhātmya chapter.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse introduces an instructive account (upākhyāna) rather than a rite.