Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 67

Devanagari script

तथा सत्यवती नारी शफरीगर्भसंभवा । तथैव महिषीगर्भो जातश्च महिषासुरः

Transliteration

tathā satyavatī nārī śapharīgarbhasaṃbhavā | tathaiva mahiṣīgarbho jātaśca mahiṣāsuraḥ

Translation

അതുപോലെ സത്യവതി എന്ന സ്ത്രീ ശഫരീ മത്സ്യത്തിന്റെ ഗർഭത്തിൽ നിന്നു ജനിച്ചു; അതുപോലെ തന്നെ മഹിഷിയുടെ ഗർഭത്തിൽ നിന്നു മഹിഷാസുരൻ ജനിച്ചു.

Word by Word

• tathā: likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय (adverb)

• satyavatī: Satyavatī
• satyavatī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: satyavatī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• nārī: woman
• nārī: Karta (Subject apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nārī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अप्पोजिशन (in apposition to satyavatī)

• śapharīgarbhasaṃbhavā: born from a śapharī-fish womb
• śapharīgarbhasaṃbhavā: Karta (Subject qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śapharī (प्रातिपदिक) + garbha (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃbhavā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (शफरी-गर्भ-सम्भवा = ‘born from the womb of a śapharī-fish’)

• tathā: likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय (adverb)

• eva: indeed
• eva: Sambandha (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle; emphasis ‘indeed/just’)

• mahiṣīgarbhaḥ: (one) from a she-buffalo’s womb
• mahiṣīgarbhaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahiṣī (प्रातिपदिक) + garbha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (महिषी-गर्भः = ‘(one) in/ from a buffalo-cow’s womb’)

• jātaḥ: born
• jātaḥ: Kriyā (Predicate/Result state)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √jan (धातु) + jāta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विधेय-विशेषण (predicate adjective)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• mahiṣāsuraḥ: Mahiṣāsura
• mahiṣāsuraḥ: Karta (Subject complement)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahiṣāsura (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (महिष + असुर)

Speaker

Wise elder (didactic exemplification; implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Split narrative: (1) A śapharī fish in a river with a radiant infant-girl (Satyavatī) emerging, attended by fisherfolk; (2) A dark, stormy scene of a buffalo giving birth to the asura Mahiṣāsura, with ominous aura—symbolic contrast of auspicious and inauspicious births.

Characters & Entities

• Satyavatī
• śapharī (fish)
• Mahiṣāsura
• mahiṣī (she-buffalo)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Origins can be wondrous and unconventional; the Purāṇas use such examples to dissolve doubt and highlight the vastness of karmic-divine causality.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None; the verse is genealogical/mythic rather than a tīrtha description.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.