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

En oubliant le Soi propre—dont le signe même est la pure conscience—on voit toutes les multitudes d’êtres vivants devenir des errants dans le saṃsāra.

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).