Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 42

Devanagari script

यथा मे भ्रमरो जातो गुरुस्तद्वद्वदामि च । कस्मिन्वृक्षे मया दृष्टो भ्रमरः कोऽपि संगतः

Transliteration

yathā me bhramaro jāto gurustadvadvadāmi ca | kasminvṛkṣe mayā dṛṣṭo bhramaraḥ ko'pi saṃgataḥ

Translation

ดุจดังที่ผึ้งได้เป็นคุรุของข้าพเจ้า ข้าพเจ้าก็จักกล่าวเช่นนั้น ผึ้งนั้นข้าพเจ้าเห็นบนต้นไม้ใดเล่า—ซึ่งบังเอิญมาพบกัน ณ ที่นั้น?

Word by Word

• yathā: just as
• yathā: Sambandha (Comparative link/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमान/प्रकारवाचक अव्यय (as/just as)

• me: my
• me: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive) वा चतुर्थी (4th/Dative) एकवचन; अत्र षष्ठी (my)

• bhramaraḥ: bee
• bhramaraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhramara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• jātaḥ: became
• jātaḥ: Kriyā (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jan (धातु) + ta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (PPP) अर्थे ‘born/became’, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• guruḥ: teacher
• guruḥ: Pradhāna-predication (Predicate nominative/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: guru (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• tadvat: likewise
• tadvat: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadvat (अव्यय)
• Form: तद्वत्-प्रकारवाचक अव्यय (in that manner/likewise)

• vadāmi: I say
• vadāmi: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vad (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• kasmin: in which
• kasmin: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• vṛkṣe: in/on a tree
• vṛkṣe: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛkṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया, एकवचन

• dṛṣṭaḥ: was seen
• dṛṣṭaḥ: Kriyā (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (धातु) + ta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (PPP), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे ‘was seen’

• bhramaraḥ: a bee
• bhramaraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhramara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• kaḥ: who
• kaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• api: some, even
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अपि-कारक अव्यय (particle: even/some)

• saṃgataḥ: met/encountered
• saṃgataḥ: Kriyā (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam + gam (धातु) + ta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (PPP) अर्थे ‘met/associated’, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

Unspecified (deduced: first-person narrator within Nāgarakhaṇḍa Tīrthamāhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Brāhmaṇa interlocutor

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A large flowering tree with a beehive; a wandering ascetic looks up as a bee moves among blossoms. The scene is poised at the start of a teaching-story, with the tree as a sacred witness.

Characters & Entities

• Bhramara (bee)
• Guru
• Vṛkṣa (tree)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The seeker learns dharma from living examples; even a bee can illustrate disciplined seeking and non-hoarding.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No tīrtha is specified in this verse; it sets up a narrative illustration within the tīrtha-māhātmya chapter.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse introduces an instructive account (upākhyāna) rather than a rite.