Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

यथैव श्वापदानां च वृका हिंसापरायणाः । काका यतांडजानां च श्वापदानां च जंबुकाः । धूर्ता तथा मनुष्याणां स्त्रीज्ञेया सततं बुधैः

Transliteration

yathaiva śvāpadānāṃ ca vṛkā hiṃsāparāyaṇāḥ | kākā yatāṃḍajānāṃ ca śvāpadānāṃ ca jaṃbukāḥ | dhūrtā tathā manuṣyāṇāṃ strījñeyā satataṃ budhaiḥ

Translation

എങ്ങനെ ശ്വാപദങ്ങളിൽ വൃകൻ സദാ ഹിംസാപരനായിരിക്കുന്നുവോ, അണ്ഡജങ്ങളിൽ കാക്കയും ശ്വാപദങ്ങളിൽ നരിയും ധൂർത്തതയിൽ പ്രസിദ്ധമാണോ—അങ്ങനെ മനുഷ്യരിൽ സ്ത്രീയെ ബുദ്ധിമാന്മാർ എപ്പോഴും വഞ്ചനാപരയെന്നു ഗ്രഹിക്കണം.

Word by Word

• yathā: just as
• yathā: Sambandha (Comparative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमानार्थक-अव्यय (comparative/"as")

• eva: indeed, exactly
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारणार्थक-निपात (emphatic particle)

• śvāpadānām: of wild beasts
• śvāpadānām: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śvāpadá (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/Genitive); बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक-निपात (conjunction)

• vṛkāḥ: wolves
• vṛkāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन

• hiṃsāparāyaṇāḥ: devoted to violence
• hiṃsāparāyaṇāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival to vṛkāḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: hiṃsā (प्रातिपदिक) + parāyaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (hiṃsāyāṃ parāyaṇāḥ = devoted to violence)

• kākāḥ: crows
• kākāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन

• yathā: as
• yathā: Sambandha (Comparative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमानार्थक-अव्यय (comparative/"as")

• aṇḍajānām: of egg-born creatures (birds)
• aṇḍajānām: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aṇḍaja (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/Genitive); बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक-निपात (conjunction)

• śvāpadānām: of wild beasts
• śvāpadānām: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śvāpadá (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/Genitive); बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक-निपात (conjunction)

• jaṃbukāḥ: jackals
• jaṃbukāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jaṃbuka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन

• dhūrtāḥ: deceitful, rogues
• dhūrtāḥ: Pradhāna-viśeṣaṇa (Predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dhūrta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन; विशेषण (implied predicate adjective)

• tathā: likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (Comparative/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारार्थक-अव्यय ("so, likewise")

• manuṣyāṇām: of humans
• manuṣyāṇām: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठī)
• Type: Noun
• Root: manuṣya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/Genitive); बहुवचन

• strī: a woman
• strī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: strī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); एकवचन

• jñeyā: is to be known (as)
• jñeyā: Pradhāna-viśeṣaṇa (Predicate adjective to strī)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jñā (धातु) + ya (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त (भाव्य/कर्तव्यतार्थक); स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); एकवचन; "ज्ञेया" = to be known/considered

• satatam: always
• satatam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: satata (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययीभाववत्)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• budhaiḥ: by the wise
• budhaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: budha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental); बहुवचन

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced from Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kedāra / Kedāranātha

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Didactic speech in an asura assembly: a speaker warns using vivid animal comparisons—wolf, crow, jackal—projecting suspicion and social tension before the amṛta episode.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It uses animal analogies to deliver a nīti-style warning about recognizing harmful or deceitful tendencies and exercising discernment (viveka) in worldly dealings.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse itself is a moral observation within the Kedārakhaṇḍa context; it does not directly name a tīrtha in the line, though the broader section belongs to the Kedāra sacred region (Kedāra-kṣetra).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this shloka; it functions as ethical instruction rather than a ritual injunction.