Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 27

Devanagari script

नैतत्पुत्रोद्भवं दुःखं तथा मां बाधते ह्रदि । यथेदं मानुषे गर्भे संवासो मानुषं प्रति

Transliteration

naitatputrodbhavaṃ duḥkhaṃ tathā māṃ bādhate hradi | yathedaṃ mānuṣe garbhe saṃvāso mānuṣaṃ prati

Translation

「子を産む苦しみが、これほどまでに我が心を悩ませるのではありません。人の胎内に住み、人の境涯に縛られること——それこそが苦しいのです。」

Word by Word

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय (negative particle)

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (Neuter, Nom./Acc., Singular)

• putra: of (my) son
• putra: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: putra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन (Masculine, Genitive, Singular)

• udbhavam: arising (from)
• udbhavam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: udbhava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (Neuter, Accusative, Singular; adjective)

• duḥkham: sorrow, pain
• duḥkham: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (Neuter, Accusative, Singular)

• tathā: so, in that manner
• tathā: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक/उपमानार्थ (adverb: in that way/so)

• mām: me
• mām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, द्वितीया, एकवचन (1st person pronoun, Accusative, Singular)

• bādhate: afflicts, troubles
• bādhate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bādh (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद (Present Indicative, 3rd person, Singular; Ātmanepada)

• hṛdi: in the heart
• hṛdi: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hṛd (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन (Neuter, Locative, Singular)

• yathā: as
• yathā: Sambandha (Comparative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमान/तुलनार्थ (comparative particle: as/just as)

• idam: this
• idam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (Neuter, Nom./Acc., Singular)

• mānuṣe: human
• mānuṣe: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mānuṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; विशेषण (Locative Singular; adjective)

• garbhe: in the womb
• garbhe: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: garbha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन (Masculine, Locative, Singular)

• saṃvāsaḥ: dwelling, living
• saṃvāsaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃvāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Masculine, Nominative, Singular)

• mānuṣam: a human (being)
• mānuṣam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mānuṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (Masculine, Accusative, Singular)

• prati: towards, with respect to
• prati: Sambandha (Relational/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prati (अव्यय/उपसर्ग)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रति-सम्बन्धे/प्रत्यर्थक (preposition: towards/with respect to)

Speaker

Revatī (contextual, continuing her lament)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A grief-stricken woman speaks inwardly, contrasting ordinary maternal sorrow with the deeper anguish of being bound to human gestation and condition; the sacred kṣetra looms as her unspoken refuge.

Characters & Entities

• Revatī
• mānuṣa (human)
• mānuṣe garbhe (human womb)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Human embodiment is portrayed as heavy with limitation; the passage motivates seeking purity through dharma, vrata, and tīrtha.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; the tīrtha-glory is contextual to the surrounding Tīrthamāhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription in this shloka.