Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 125

Devanagari script

एतदेव भयं मान्य गच्छेयमधमां गतिम् । अस्या अपि कुयोनेश्च संत्यन्याः कोटिशोऽधमाः

Transliteration

etadeva bhayaṃ mānya gaccheyamadhamāṃ gatim | asyā api kuyoneśca saṃtyanyāḥ koṭiśo'dhamāḥ

Translation

ഹേ മാന്യനേ! എനിക്ക് ഇതേ ഭയമാണ്—ഞാൻ ഇനിയും അധമഗതിയിലേക്കു പോകുമോ എന്നു. ഈ കുയോനിക്കു താഴെയും കോടിക്കണക്കിന് അത്യന്തം നീച ജന്മങ്ങൾ നിലനിൽക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• eva: indeed/only
• eva: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• bhayam: fear
• bhayam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• mānya: O venerable one
• mānya: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mānya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन; विशेषण (address)

• gaccheyam: I might go
• gaccheyam: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (गम् धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• adhamām: lowest
• adhamām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: adhama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• gatim: state/destination
• gatim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• asyāḥ: of this (female)/of her
• asyāḥ: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (अयम्/इदम् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• api: also/even
• api: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (additive particle)

• kuyoneḥ: of a bad/low womb (birth)
• kuyoneḥ: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ku-yoni (प्रातिपदिक: ku + yoni)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (कु=दुष्ट/नीच + योनिः)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• santi: there are
• santi: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (अस् धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• anyāḥ: other
• anyāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; विशेषण

• koṭiśaḥ: by crores; in tens of millions
• koṭiśaḥ: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: koṭiśas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb: distributive/quantitative)

• adhamāḥ: lowest/most base
• adhamāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: adhama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; विशेषण (predicative)

Speaker

Unspecified narrator (the insect/being)

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: a venerable interlocutor (मान्य) within the narrative frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A supplicant voice confesses dread of falling into ever-lower births; the imagery is psychological: a dark, descending ladder of yonis beneath a shadowed cosmos.

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The real terror is endless descent through lower births; it points to the urgency of mokṣa and dharmic uplift.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tirtha is newly praised; the episode remains anchored near the Sarasvatī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse expresses existential fear of further karmic downfall.