Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 40
सारस्वत उवाच । यन्मां सरस्वती प्राह सारं वक्ष्यामि तच्छृणु । छायाकारं जगत्सर्वमुत्पत्तिक्षयधर्मि च । वारांगनानेत्रभंगस्वद्वद्भंगुरमेव तत्
sārasvata uvāca | yanmāṃ sarasvatī prāha sāraṃ vakṣyāmi tacchṛṇu | chāyākāraṃ jagatsarvamutpattikṣayadharmi ca | vārāṃganānetrabhaṃgasvadvadbhaṃgurameva tat
Sārasvata dit : Écoute l’essence que Sarasvatī m’a confiée, et que je vais proclamer. Ce monde tout entier est semblable à une ombre, voué à naître et à périr ; il est vraiment fragile, tel le jeu fugitif du regard oblique d’une courtisane.
Sārasvata
Listener: The inquiring interlocutor (not named in the provided excerpt)
Scene: Sārasvata teaching: the world depicted as a translucent shadow-city fading at the edges; in the foreground, a fleeting glance motif (suggested symbolically, not erotically explicit) conveys momentariness; the sage points to the dissolving scene.
FAQs
The world is transient and unreliable; recognizing impermanence is the foundation for turning toward the enduring, dharmic refuge.
No specific place is named in this verse; it provides philosophical groundwork often used to motivate devotion and right practice.
None explicitly; it teaches vairāgya (detachment) through contemplation of the world’s perishability.