Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 10

Devanagari script

कोकिला मधुरैः स्वानैर्नादयंति तथा मुनीन् । यथा कथामृताख्यानैर्ब्राह्मणा भवभीरुकान्

Transliteration

kokilā madhuraiḥ svānairnādayaṃti tathā munīn | yathā kathāmṛtākhyānairbrāhmaṇā bhavabhīrukān

Translation

ที่นั่นนกโกกิลาเปล่งเสียงหวานชื่นให้เหล่ามุนีรื่นรมย์; ดุจพราหมณ์เล่าเรื่องธรรมอันเป็นอมฤต ทำให้ผู้หวาดหวั่นต่อสังสารวัฏยินดี

Word by Word

• कोकिलाः: cuckoos
• कोकिलाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कोकिला (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), बहुवचन; (पाठे ‘कोकिला’ इति, अर्थतः बहुवचन)

• मधुरैः: sweet
• मधुरैः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मधुर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: विशेषण, पुं/नपुंसक, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; ‘with sweet’

• स्वानैः: with calls/sounds
• स्वानैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; ‘with sounds/cries’

• नादयन्ति: make resound
• नादयन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √नद् (धातु) → नादयति (णिच्)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद; ‘they make resound’

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Comparative/अन्वय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, उपमान/समुच्चयार्थ: ‘so, likewise’

• मुनीन्: sages
• मुनीन्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), बहुवचन; ‘sages’

• यथा: just as
• यथा: Sambandha (Comparative marker/उपमान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, उपमानवाचक: ‘just as’

• कथा: discourse
• कथा: Samasa-anga (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कथा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, समासाङ्ग; ‘story/discourse’ (in compound)

• अमृत: nectar
• अमृत: Samasa-anga (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अमृत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, समासाङ्ग; कर्मधारय: अमृतं इव (nectar-like)

• आख्यानैः: by narrations
• आख्यानैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आख्यान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; समासपद: कथामृत-आख्यानैः ‘by nectar-like narrations’

• ब्राह्मणाः: Brahmins
• ब्राह्मणाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), बहुवचन; ‘Brahmins’

• भव: worldly existence
• भव: Samasa-anga (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, समासाङ्ग; ‘worldly existence’ (in compound)

• भीरुकान्: those afraid (of saṃsāra)
• भीरुकान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भीरुक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: विशेषण, पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), बहुवचन; समासपद: भव-भीरुकान् ‘those fearful of saṃsāra’

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta), as narrator within Māheśvara-khaṇḍa context

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Sages seated in a forest hermitage, listening; above them cuckoos sing on flowering branches; a brāhmaṇa storyteller gestures gently, the scene blending nature’s song with kathā.

Characters & Entities

• Munis (sages)
• Brāhmaṇas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred narration (kathā) is like nectar: it calms fear of saṃsāra and uplifts the mind, just as birdsong soothes ascetics.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No named tīrtha is specified in this verse; it praises the sanctity of a sage’s āśrama environment as a dharmic sacred space.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is prescribed; the implied practice is śravaṇa of kathā (listening to sacred narratives) in the company of Brāhmaṇas and sages.