Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 24

Devanagari script

वाग्वादेन च किं कार्यमस्माकं चाधुना प्रभो । प्रकृतेः परतस्त्वं च यदि सत्यं वचस्तव । तर्हि त्वया न भेतव्यं मम शंकर संप्रति

Transliteration

vāgvādena ca kiṃ kāryamasmākaṃ cādhunā prabho | prakṛteḥ paratastvaṃ ca yadi satyaṃ vacastava | tarhi tvayā na bhetavyaṃ mama śaṃkara saṃprati

Translation

Và nay, ôi Chúa Tể, tranh biện bằng lời có ích gì cho chúng con? Nếu lời Ngài là thật—rằng Ngài vượt ngoài Prakṛti—thì, ôi Śaṅkara, ngay lúc này Ngài chẳng nên sợ con chút nào.

Word by Word

• vāk-vādena: by verbal disputation
• vāk-vādena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vāk (प्रातिपदिक) + vāda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (वाचः वादः)

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

• kim: what
• kim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक सर्वनाम

• kāryam: need/thing to be done
• kāryam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kārya (प्रातिपदिक; √kṛ (धातु) + यत्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन

• asmākam: of us
• asmākam: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन; अस्मद्-प्रत्यय

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

• adhunā: now
• adhunā: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adhunā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of time)

• prabho: O lord
• prabho: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• prakṛteḥ: from nature
• prakṛteḥ: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prakṛti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचन

• paratas: beyond
• paratas: Sambandha (Qualifier/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: paratas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; पञ्चम्यर्थे (in the sense of ‘beyond/from’)

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन; मध्यमपुरुष-सर्वनाम

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

• yadi: if
• yadi: Sambandha (Condition/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: शर्तार्थक-अव्यय (conditional particle)

• satyam: true
• satyam: Pradhana (Predicate/विशेष्य-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: satya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण (predicate adjective)

• vacas: speech/statement
• vacas: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vacas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• tava: your
• tava: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन; मध्यमपुरुष-सर्वनाम

• tarhi: then
• tarhi: Sambandha (Discourse/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tarhi (अव्यय)
• Form: निगमनार्थक-अव्यय (then/therefore)

• tvayā: by you/for you
• tvayā: Karta (Agent in gerundive construction/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; मध्यमपुरुष-सर्वनाम

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात (negation particle)

• bhetavyam: to be feared
• bhetavyam: Karma (What is to be done/कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhī (धातु) + तव्यत् (कृत्)
• Form: तव्यत्-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (gerundive/passive necessity), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; अर्थः—‘भेतव्यम्’ = ‘भयम् कर्तव्यम्/भयितव्यम्’ (should be feared)

• mama: of me
• mama: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन; अस्मद्-प्रत्यय

• śaṃkara: O Śaṅkara
• śaṃkara: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaṃkara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• saṃprati: now/at present
• saṃprati: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: saṃprati (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of time)

Speaker

Girijā (Pārvatī) (deduced from immediate narrative context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kedāra (Kedāranātha)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis/assembly (contextual)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Pārvatī confronts Śaṅkara with a sharp, fearless question; Śiva remains serene, unshaken, in a Himalayan hermitage atmosphere.

Characters & Entities

• Śaṅkara
• Prakṛti

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

True spiritual realization is tested in conduct, not in argument; fearlessness should follow genuine transcendence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Kedārakhaṇḍa frame places the teaching within the Kedāra–Himālaya tīrtha milieu, though no single shrine is named in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription; the verse critiques “vāda” (mere disputation) and emphasizes lived realization.