Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 81

Devanagari script

जायन्ते कण्टकैर्भिन्नाः कोशे वा कोशकारकाः । मृगपक्षिविहङ्गानां घातका मांसभक्षकाः

Transliteration

jāyante kaṇṭakairbhinnāḥ kośe vā kośakārakāḥ | mṛgapakṣivihaṅgānāṃ ghātakā māṃsabhakṣakāḥ

Translation

അവർ മുള്ളുകളാൽ കുത്തേറ്റവരായി ജനിക്കുന്നു, അല്ലെങ്കിൽ കോശത്തിനുള്ളിൽ കോശം നെയ്യുന്നവരായി മാറുന്നു—മൃഗങ്ങളെയും പക്ഷികളെയും കൊല്ലുകയും മാംസം ഭക്ഷിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നവർ।

Word by Word

• जायन्ते: they are born
• जायन्ते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; आत्मनेपद

• कण्टकैः: by thorns
• कण्टकैः: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कण्टक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन

• भिन्नाः: pierced, split
• भिन्नाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भिद् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त; विशेषण—(ते)

• कोशे: in a cocoon/sheath
• कोशे: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कोश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक-अव्यय (disjunctive particle)

• कोशकारकाः: cocoon-makers
• कोशकारकाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कोश (प्रातिपदिक) + कारक (कृ-धातु-निष्पन्न; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (कोशं करोति इति)

• मृगपक्षिविहङ्गानाम्: of beasts and birds
• मृगपक्षिविहङ्गानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृग (प्रातिपदिक) + पक्षि (प्रातिपदिक) + विहङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन; द्वन्द्व-समास (मृगाः च पक्षिणः च विहङ्गाः च)

• घातकाः: killers
• घातकाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: घातक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• मांसभक्षकाः: meat-eaters
• मांसभक्षकाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मांस (प्रातिपदिक) + भक्षक (भक्ष्-धातु-निष्पन्न; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (मांसं भक्षयति इति)

Speaker

Deductive: Skanda (Kārttikeya) narrating within Āvantya Khaṇḍa’s Reva Khaṇḍa frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A metamorphic karmic montage: hunters killing deer and birds; then rebirth scenes—one figure emerging with skin torn by thorns in a thorn-bush landscape; another enclosed within a silken cocoon, cramped and struggling—symbolizing karmic mirroring.

Characters & Entities

• mṛga
• pakṣi
• vihaṅga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Cruelty to living beings returns as embodied suffering; violence (hiṃsā) shapes one’s future birth and pain.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is mentioned; the verse is a karmic-ethical teaching within the Reva Khaṇḍa context.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual; the implied prescription is ahiṃsā and restraint from killing.