Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

किं वा वराहदंष्ट्राग्रघातैः पंचत्वमागतः । मधुलोभेन वृक्षाग्रात्स वै प्रपतितो भुवि

Transliteration

kiṃ vā varāhadaṃṣṭrāgraghātaiḥ paṃcatvamāgataḥ | madhulobhena vṛkṣāgrātsa vai prapatito bhuvi

Translation

വരാഹത്തിന്റെ ദംഷ്ട്രാഗ്രപ്രഹരങ്ങളാൽ അവൻ മരണം പ്രാപിച്ചോ? അല്ലെങ്കിൽ തേൻലോഭത്തിൽ വൃക്ഷശിഖരത്തിൽ നിന്ന് ഭൂമിയിലേക്കു വീണോ?

Word by Word

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (interrogative pronoun)

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक-निपात (or)

• वराहदंष्ट्राग्रघातैः: by blows from the tip of a boar’s tusk
• वराहदंष्ट्राग्रघातैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varāha (प्रातिपदिक) + daṃṣṭrā (प्रातिपदिक) + agra (प्रातिपदिक) + ghāta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (वराहस्य दंष्ट्रायाः अग्रेण घाताः), पुल्लिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन (instrumental plural)

• पंचत्वम्: death (lit. becoming ‘five’)
• पंचत्वम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: paṃcatva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (accusative singular; state of being ‘five’ i.e., death)

• आगतः: has come to / has reached
• आगतः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ+गम् (धातु) → āgata (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्तरि कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय), पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (past active participle: having reached)

• मधुलोभेन: by greed for honey
• मधुलोभेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: madhu (प्रातिपदिक) + lobha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (मधुनः लोभः), पुल्लिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन (instrumental singular)

• वृक्षाग्रात्: from the top of a tree
• वृक्षाग्रात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛkṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + agra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (वृक्षस्य अग्रः), पञ्चमी, एकवचन (ablative singular)

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (pronoun: he)

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चयार्थक-निपात (emphatic particle)

• प्रपतितः: fell down
• प्रपतितः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र+पत् (धातु) → prapatita (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्तरि कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय), पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (fallen down)

• भुवि: on the ground
• भुवि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhuvi/bhūmi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन (locative singular)

Speaker

Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced from Māheśvarakhaṇḍa convention)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kedāra (Kedāranātha kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Purāṇic audience within the frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The woman imagines two more deaths: gored by a boar’s tusks, or falling from a tree while greedily seeking honey; the forest becomes a theatre of karmic consequence.

Characters & Entities

• Boar (varāha)
• Honey (madhu)
• Tree (vṛkṣa)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Attachment and greed can drive one into danger; Purāṇic storytelling uses such images to caution and redirect toward dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not explicit in this verse; the overarching frame is the Kedāra sacred narrative within Skanda Purāṇa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.