Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 39

Devanagari script

यथायथा महामांसं स भक्षयति राघव । तथातथा पुनः कायं तद्रूपं तत्प्रजायते

Transliteration

yathāyathā mahāmāṃsaṃ sa bhakṣayati rāghava | tathātathā punaḥ kāyaṃ tadrūpaṃ tatprajāyate

Translation

اے راغھو! جس جس طرح وہ اُس بڑے گوشت کو کھاتا ہے، اسی اسی طرح اس کا بدن پھر سے بن جاتا ہے اور ویسی ہی صورت و ہیئت اختیار کر لیتا ہے۔

Word by Word

• yathā-yathā: as and as; in whatever measure
• yathā-yathā: Kriya-vishesana (Correlative adverb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (यथाक्रम/अनुपातबोधक) — पुनरुक्ति: 'as...as/according as'

• mahā-māṃsam: the large flesh (mass of meat)
• mahā-māṃsam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (उपसर्ग/विशेषण-प्रातिपदिक) + māṃsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समास: 'महच्च तत् मांसम्'

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन

• bhakṣayati: eats; devours
• bhakṣayati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhakṣ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान/Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• rāghava: O Rāghava
• rāghava: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāghava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन विभक्ति (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• tathā-tathā: so and so; correspondingly
• tathā-tathā: Kriya-vishesana (Correlative adverb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (तथाक्रम/अनुपातबोधक) — पुनरुक्ति: 'so...so/in that same measure'

• punaḥ: again; in turn
• punaḥ: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: punaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (पुनरावृत्तिबोधक-क्रियाविशेषण)

• kāyam: the body
• kāyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• tad-rūpam: of that form; such-formed
• tad-rūpam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: 'तस्य रूपम्' (as adjective: 'of that form')

• tat: that
• tat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; अत्र विशेषणरूपेण (referring to kāya/rūpa)

• prajāyate: is produced; comes into being
• prajāyate: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√jan (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान/Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

Speaker

Agastya (narrator, addressing Rāghava within the story-context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Rāghava

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A wondrous metamorphosis: as the being consumes flesh, his own body reconstitutes in matching form—suggesting a mirror-like law of embodiment.

Characters & Entities

• Rāghava

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Actions (especially impure or forbidden consumption) shape one’s embodied condition; karma expresses itself as corresponding results.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse sits within a Tīrthamāhātmya episode connected to a pond/tank (taḍāga) setting; the exact tīrtha name is not stated in this single shloka.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual is prescribed here; it describes karmic causality affecting the body.