Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 57
जडवद्वर्त्तमानः स मातृकां प्रत्यपद्यत । पठित्वा मातृकामन्यन्नाध्येति स कथंचन
jaḍavadvarttamānaḥ sa mātṛkāṃ pratyapadyata | paṭhitvā mātṛkāmanyannādhyeti sa kathaṃcana
ജഡബുദ്ധിയുള്ളവനെപ്പോലെ പെരുമാറി അവൻ മാതൃക (അക്ഷരമാല) മാത്രമേ അഭ്യസിച്ചുള്ളൂ. അക്ഷരങ്ങൾ പഠിച്ചിട്ടും അവൻ എങ്ങനെയും പിന്നത്തെ പഠനത്തിലേക്ക് മുന്നേറാനായില്ല.
Narrator (contextual, likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa in Māheśvarakhaṇḍa frame)
Listener: dvija (brāhmaṇa interlocutor)
Scene: A young boy sits before a teacher with a writing board/palm leaf, repeatedly tracing letters; the father-scholar watches with mixed concern and restraint; the scene carries gentle irony rather than cruelty.
FAQs
Mere basics are not the goal; learning should mature into understanding and transformation, not stop at form.
No holy site is referenced in this verse.
None; it describes a person’s inability to advance in study.