Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 54

Devanagari script

अंधे तमसि किं दृश्यो गंधान्मोहं दृढं लभेत् । शीते मात्रा जले पीते शीतमुष्णं तथोष्णके

Transliteration

aṃdhe tamasi kiṃ dṛśyo gaṃdhānmohaṃ dṛḍhaṃ labhet | śīte mātrā jale pīte śītamuṣṇaṃ tathoṣṇake

Translation

အမှောင်အတိ၌ ဘာကိုမြင်နိုင်မည်နည်း။ အနံ့တို့ကြောင့် မောဟာအလွန်ခိုင်မာစွာ ဖြစ်ပေါ်လာသည်။ မိခင်က အေးသောရေသောက်လျှင် အေးမြသည်၊ ပူသောအရာယူလျှင်လည်း ပူနွေးသည်။

Word by Word

• अन्धे: in dark (condition/place)
• अन्धे: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः (अधिकरण), एकवचनम्; विशेषणम्

• तमसि: in darkness
• तमसि: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; प्रश्नवाचक-सर्वनाम

• दृश्यः: visible / to be seen
• दृश्यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दृश्य (कृदन्त; √दृश् (धातु) + यत्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; यत्-प्रत्ययान्तः (passive potential/‘to be seen’)

• गन्धान्: smells
• गन्धान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गन्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्

• मोहम्: delusion
• मोहम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मोह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• दृढम्: firm, strong
• दृढम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दृढ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (मोहम्)

• लभेत्: would obtain
• लभेत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √लभ् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथम-पुरुषः, एकवचनम्, परस्मैपदम्

• शीते: in cold
• शीते: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शीत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• मात्रा: by measure / in due measure
• मात्रा: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मात्रा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे, तृतीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; करण/प्रमाणार्थे

• जले: in water
• जले: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• पीते: when drunk
• पीते: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पीत (कृदन्त; √पा (धातु) + क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि/कर्मणि प्रयोगः; (जले) विशेषणम्

• शीतम्: coldness / cold
• शीतम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शीत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• उष्णम्: heat / hot
• उष्णम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उष्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; अव्यय-प्रकारः: उपमान/समुच्चयार्थक-अव्ययम् (‘likewise/so’)

• उष्णके: in heat / in a hot state
• उष्णके: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उष्णक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta), by section-wide deduction (Māheśvara-khaṇḍa narration to sages)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A fetus curled in the womb amid darkness, responding to the mother’s intake—coolness and heat—symbolizing dependence and delusion born of subtle sense-contact.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The embodied being is constrained by darkness and sense-conditions; this highlights the need for spiritual awakening beyond sensory bondage.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is mentioned.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is given; it implicitly advises mindful, wholesome conduct during pregnancy.