Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 57
जडवद्वर्त्तमानः स मातृकां प्रत्यपद्यत । पठित्वा मातृकामन्यन्नाध्येति स कथंचन
jaḍavadvarttamānaḥ sa mātṛkāṃ pratyapadyata | paṭhitvā mātṛkāmanyannādhyeti sa kathaṃcana
وہ بیٹا کند ذہن کی طرح برتاؤ کرتا تھا اور صرف ماترِکا، یعنی حروفِ تہجی، ہی سیکھنے لگا۔ حروف پڑھ لینے کے بعد بھی وہ کسی طرح آگے کی تعلیم حاصل نہ کر سکا۔
Narrator (contextual, likely Sūta/Lomaharṣaṇa in Māheśvarakhaṇḍa frame)
Listener: dvija (brāhmaṇa interlocutor)
Scene: A young boy sits before a teacher with a writing board/palm leaf, repeatedly tracing letters; the father-scholar watches with mixed concern and restraint; the scene carries gentle irony rather than cruelty.
FAQs
Mere basics are not the goal; learning should mature into understanding and transformation, not stop at form.
No holy site is referenced in this verse.
None; it describes a person’s inability to advance in study.