Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 24

Devanagari script

तस्माद्भवद्भिः संचिंत्यकार्याकार्यविचक्षणैः । कर्तव्यं परया बुद्ध्या प्रयातासुरसत्तमाः

Transliteration

tasmādbhavadbhiḥ saṃciṃtyakāryākāryavicakṣaṇaiḥ | kartavyaṃ parayā buddhyā prayātāsurasattamāḥ

Translation

เพราะฉะนั้น โอ้ผู้ประเสริฐในหมู่อสูรทั้งหลาย ท่านผู้แยกแยะได้ว่าอะไรควรกระทำและไม่ควรกระทำ จงใคร่ครวญให้ถี่ถ้วน แล้วกระทำด้วยปัญญาอันสูงสุด และจงออกไปตามควรแก่กรณีนั้น

Word by Word

• tasmāt: therefore
• tasmāt: Sambandha (Causal/ablatival)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तस्मात् इति सर्वनाम-निपातवत्; अपादानार्थे (ablatival adverb: "therefore/from that")

• bhavadbhiḥ: by you (pl., hon.)
• bhavadbhiḥ: Karana/Agent-in-instruction (Instrumental)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhavat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental); बहुवचन

• saṃciṃtya: having reflected
• saṃciṃtya: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Absolutive)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sam√cint (धातु) + ल्यप् (क्त्वा-प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त-अव्यय (क्त्वान्त/ल्यप्); पूर्वकालिक क्रिया (having considered)

• kārya: what should be done
• kārya: Sambandha (Compound member)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kārya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रातिपदिक (in compound)

• akārya: what should not be done
• akārya: Sambandha (Compound member)
• Type: Noun
• Root: a- (निषेध) + kārya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रातिपदिक (in compound)

• vicakṣaṇaiḥ: by the discerning
• vicakṣaṇaiḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival to bhavadbhiḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vicakṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental); बहुवचन; विशेषण (to bhavadbhiḥ)

• kartavyam: should be done
• kartavyam: Kriyā (Impersonal predicate)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kṛ (धातु) + tavya (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त (कर्तव्यतार्थक/gerundive); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom/Acc); एकवचन; विधेय ("it should be done")

• parayā: with supreme
• parayā: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjectival)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental); एकवचन; विशेषण (to buddhyā)

• buddhyā: with intellect
• buddhyā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: buddhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental); एकवचन

• prayātāḥ: having set out / departed
• prayātāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pra√yā (धातु) + क्त (क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त (भूतकृत्/क्त); पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन; "gone/setting out"

• asura: asura
• asura: Sambandha (Compound member)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asura (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रातिपदिक (in compound)

• sattamāḥ: best (among)
• sattamāḥ: Sambodhana/Address (Vocative sense in context)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sat (प्रातिपदिक) + tamaP (तमप् प्रत्यय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन; उत्तमत्ववाचक (superlative)

Speaker

Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta), narrating within the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa context

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kedāra / Kedāranātha

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A formal exhortation to the asuras: elders/leader figures confer, pointing toward a path of action; the mood is strategic and deliberative.

Characters & Entities

• Asuras

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma begins with viveka—careful discernment of right versus wrong—and then acting with higher wisdom rather than impulse.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse occurs in the Kedārakhaṇḍa, oriented to the glory of Kedāra/Kedārakṣetra within the Māheśvara-khaṇḍa’s sacred landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific rite (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; it gives an ethical injunction to deliberate and act wisely.