Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 53

Devanagari script

एवं वयं विजानन्तो यदि मांसस्य दूषणम् । तथापि वंचिताः सर्वे अपरीक्षितकारिणः

Transliteration

evaṃ vayaṃ vijānanto yadi māṃsasya dūṣaṇam | tathāpi vaṃcitāḥ sarve aparīkṣitakāriṇaḥ

Translation

മാംസഭക്ഷണത്തിന്റെ ദോഷം ഞങ്ങൾ നന്നായി അറിഞ്ഞിരുന്നുവെങ്കിലും, ഞങ്ങൾ എല്ലാവരും വഞ്ചിതരായി—ശരിയായി പരിശോധിക്കാതെ പ്രവർത്തിച്ചു।

Word by Word

• evam: thus
• evam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb), प्रकारार्थ: ‘thus/in this way’

• vayam: we
• vayam: Kartā (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)

• vijānantaḥ: knowing; understanding
• vijānantaḥ: Kartṛ-viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier of subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi- + √jñā (धातु) + śatṛ (शतृ)
• Form: वर्तमान-कृदन्त (present active participle), शतृ-प्रत्यय; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्तरि: ‘knowing’

• yadi: if
• yadi: Sambandha (Condition marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (conditional particle), ‘if’

• māṃsasya: of meat
• māṃsasya: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māṃsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), एकवचन

• dūṣaṇam: fault; defilement
• dūṣaṇam: Karma/Viṣaya (Object/Topic known)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dūṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक; √dūṣ (धातु) ‘to defile’)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• tathāpi: even so; nevertheless
• tathāpi: Sambandha (Concessive connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय) + api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय-समुच्चय (adverbial phrase): ‘even so/however’

• vaṃcitāḥ: deceived
• vaṃcitāḥ: Kartā (Subject complement)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √vañc (धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (past passive participle), क्त-प्रत्यय; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मणि: ‘deceived’

• sarve: all
• sarve: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• aparīkṣita-kāriṇaḥ: those who act without examining
• aparīkṣita-kāriṇaḥ: Kartṛ-viśeṣaṇa (Appositional descriptor of ‘we’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: a- + parīkṣita (प्रातिपदिक; pari- + √īkṣ (धातु) + kta) + kārin (प्रातिपदिक; √kṛ (धातु) + in)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास: ‘अपरीक्षितं (अविचारितं) करोति इति’; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

Speaker

Brāhmaṇas

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsakṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer (traditional frame: sages/śaunaka-group or a king), unspecified in the given excerpt

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A group of remorseful beings confessing that they knew meat-eating was दोष yet were deluded; the sacred coastal landscape of Prabhāsa in the background with somber tones.

Characters & Entities

• Brāhmaṇas
• Ocean (Samudra)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Knowledge must be joined with careful discernment; unexamined action (aparīkṣita-kārya) makes one vulnerable to adharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra, portrayed as a place where dharma is taught through consequence-laden narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the emphasis is on viveka (discernment) as a practical dharmic discipline.