Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 59

Devanagari script

श्रीशुकदेव उवाच । यदि स्याज्ज्ञानसंयुक्तो जन्मकालेत्र मानवः । निजावस्थां समालोक्य तज्ज्ञानं हि विलीयते

Transliteration

śrīśukadeva uvāca | yadi syājjñānasaṃyukto janmakāletra mānavaḥ | nijāvasthāṃ samālokya tajjñānaṃ hi vilīyate

Translation

ശ്രീശുകദേവൻ പറഞ്ഞു—മനുഷ്യൻ ജന്മസമയത്തുതന്നെ ജ്ഞാനസമ്പന്നനായാലും, സ്വന്തം അവസ്ഥയും പരിമിതിയും കണ്ടാൽ ആ ജ്ഞാനം തീർച്ചയായും ലയിച്ചുപോകും.

Word by Word

• śrīśukadevaḥ: Śrī Śukadeva
• śrīśukadevaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śrī-śuka-deva (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेष-नाम (proper noun)

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदी

• yadi: if
• yadi: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्ध-अव्यय; शर्तार्थक (conditional particle)

• syāt: would be / may be
• syāt: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदी

• jñānasaṃyuktaḥ: endowed with knowledge
• jñānasaṃyuktaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jñāna + saṃyukta (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying mānavaḥ)

• janmakāle: at the time of birth
• janmakāle: Adhikarana (Location/Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janma + kāla (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; अधिकरण (time-locative)

• atra: here
• atra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atra (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• mānavaḥ: a human
• mānavaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mānava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• nijāvasthām: one’s own condition/state
• nijāvasthām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nija + avasthā (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; कर्म (object of samālokya)

• samālokya: having observed
• samālokya: Kriya (Non-finite action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-ā-lok (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभाव; पूर्वकालिक क्रिया (having observed)

• tat: that
• tat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying jñānam)

• jñānam: knowledge
• jñānam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jñāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic/causal particle)

• vilīyate: vanishes / dissolves
• vilīyate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-lī (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपदी; कर्मणि/भावे प्रयोग (is dissolved/vanishes)

Speaker

Śrī Śukadeva

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: (implied) Vyāsa / a sage interlocutor within the frame-dialogue

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A contemplative Śukadeva speaks to a sage-assembly; behind him, a symbolic infant with a fading halo of ‘knowledge’ dissolves into mist as it looks at its own frail body—allegory of jñāna-kṣaya under dehābhimāna.

Characters & Entities

• Śukadeva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Embodied life brings constraints and delusion; wisdom must be cultivated and protected, not assumed as innate and permanent.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is referenced directly in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a reflective statement about knowledge and embodiment.