Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 44
Devanagari script
एकोनविंशे मण्डूकः कूर्मो विंशतिमे भवे । एकविंशे भवे मत्स्यो द्वाविंशे मूषकोऽभवम्
Transliteration
ekonaviṃśe maṇḍūkaḥ kūrmo viṃśatime bhave | ekaviṃśe bhave matsyo dvāviṃśe mūṣako'bhavam
Translation
In the nineteenth birth I became a frog; in the twentieth, a tortoise. In the twenty-first, a fish; and in the twenty-second, I became a mouse.
Word by Word
एकोनविंशेin the nineteenth (birth)
एकोनविंशे:
Adhikarana (Location/Time/अधिकरण)
TypeAdjective
Rootएक (प्रातिपदिक) + ऊन (प्रातिपदिक) + विंश (प्रातिपदिक; संख्या)
Formसप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; संख्या-विशेषण; (विंशेः एकेन ऊनः) ‘nineteenth’
मण्डूकःa frog
मण्डूकः:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootमण्डूक (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
कूर्मःa tortoise
कूर्मः:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootकूर्म (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
विंशतिमेin the twentieth (birth)
विंशतिमे:
Adhikarana (Location/Time/अधिकरण)
TypeAdjective
Rootविंशति (प्रातिपदिक; संख्या)
Formसप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; क्रमवाचक-विशेषण (ordinal)
भवेI become / I am (born)
भवे:
Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootभू (धातु)
Formलट्-लकार, उत्तम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद
एकविंशेin the twenty-first (birth)
एकविंशे:
Adhikarana (Location/Time/अधिकरण)
TypeAdjective
Rootएक (प्रातिपदिक) + विंश (प्रातिपदिक; संख्या)
Formसप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; संख्या-विशेषण ‘twenty-first’
भवेI become / I am (born)
भवे:
Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootभू (धातु)
Formलट्-लकार, उत्तम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद
मत्स्यःa fish
मत्स्यः:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootमत्स्य (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
द्वाविंशेin the twenty-second (birth)
द्वाविंशे:
Adhikarana (Location/Time/अधिकरण)
TypeAdjective
Rootद्वा (प्रातिपदिक) + विंश (प्रातिपदिक; संख्या)
Formसप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; संख्या-विशेषण ‘twenty-second’
मूषकःa mouse/rat
मूषकः:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootमूषक (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन
अभवम्I became / I was
अभवम्:
Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootभू (धातु)
Formलङ्-लकार (Imperfect/Past), उत्तम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद
Speaker
Unspecified in excerpt (same narrator)
Visual Art Cues
Scene: A sequence of births unfolds: frog, tortoise, fish, mouse—shown as memory-visions around the narrator, emphasizing smallness and vulnerability of embodied life.
Characters & Entities
M
maṇḍūka (frog)K
kūrma (tortoise)M
matsya (fish)M
mūṣaka (mouse)FAQs
Karmic bondage can reduce one to increasingly constrained existences, urging a turn toward purification and higher aims.
None is indicated in this verse.
None.