Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 53

Devanagari script

एवं वयं विजानन्तो यदि मांसस्य दूषणम् । तथापि वंचिताः सर्वे अपरीक्षितकारिणः

Transliteration

evaṃ vayaṃ vijānanto yadi māṃsasya dūṣaṇam | tathāpi vaṃcitāḥ sarve aparīkṣitakāriṇaḥ

Translation

Dẫu chúng ta biết rõ lỗi lầm của việc ăn thịt, vậy mà tất cả vẫn bị lừa dối, vì hành động không xét kỹ.

Word by Word

• evam: thus
• evam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb), प्रकारार्थ: ‘thus/in this way’

• vayam: we
• vayam: Kartā (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)

• vijānantaḥ: knowing; understanding
• vijānantaḥ: Kartṛ-viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier of subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi- + √jñā (धातु) + śatṛ (शतृ)
• Form: वर्तमान-कृदन्त (present active participle), शतृ-प्रत्यय; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्तरि: ‘knowing’

• yadi: if
• yadi: Sambandha (Condition marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (conditional particle), ‘if’

• māṃsasya: of meat
• māṃsasya: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māṃsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), एकवचन

• dūṣaṇam: fault; defilement
• dūṣaṇam: Karma/Viṣaya (Object/Topic known)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dūṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक; √dūṣ (धातु) ‘to defile’)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• tathāpi: even so; nevertheless
• tathāpi: Sambandha (Concessive connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय) + api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय-समुच्चय (adverbial phrase): ‘even so/however’

• vaṃcitāḥ: deceived
• vaṃcitāḥ: Kartā (Subject complement)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √vañc (धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (past passive participle), क्त-प्रत्यय; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मणि: ‘deceived’

• sarve: all
• sarve: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• aparīkṣita-kāriṇaḥ: those who act without examining
• aparīkṣita-kāriṇaḥ: Kartṛ-viśeṣaṇa (Appositional descriptor of ‘we’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: a- + parīkṣita (प्रातिपदिक; pari- + √īkṣ (धातु) + kta) + kārin (प्रातिपदिक; √kṛ (धातु) + in)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास: ‘अपरीक्षितं (अविचारितं) करोति इति’; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

Speaker

Brāhmaṇas

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsakṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer (traditional frame: sages/śaunaka-group or a king), unspecified in the given excerpt

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A group of remorseful beings confessing that they knew meat-eating was दोष yet were deluded; the sacred coastal landscape of Prabhāsa in the background with somber tones.

Characters & Entities

• Brāhmaṇas
• Ocean (Samudra)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Knowledge must be joined with careful discernment; unexamined action (aparīkṣita-kārya) makes one vulnerable to adharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra, portrayed as a place where dharma is taught through consequence-laden narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the emphasis is on viveka (discernment) as a practical dharmic discipline.