Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 65

Devanagari script

कमठीपृष्ठकठिनावकर्मकरणौ करौ । राज्यहेतू शिशोरस्य पादौ चाध्वनि कोमलौ

Transliteration

kamaṭhīpṛṣṭhakaṭhināvakarmakaraṇau karau | rājyahetū śiśorasya pādau cādhvani komalau

Translation

إذا كانت يدا الطفل صلبتين قاسيتين كظهر السلحفاة، صالحتين للعمل، صارتا سببًا للملك؛ وإن كانت قدماه رقيقتين لِلسَّير، فقد قُدِّر له أن يمضي في طرقٍ عظيمة.

Word by Word

• कमठीपृष्ठकठिनावकर्मकरणौ: hard (like) a tortoise-back, work-capable
• कमठीपृष्ठकठिनावकर्मकरणौ: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कमठी (प्रातिपदिक) + पृष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक) + कठिन (प्रातिपदिक) + अव (उपसर्ग/अव्यय-प्राय) + कर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + करण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषसमासः (वर्णनात्मक): 'कमठी-पृष्ठ-कठिन-अव-कर्म-करण' = (hands) hard like a tortoise-back, fit for work/doing

• करौ: (two) hands
• करौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन

• राज्यहेतू: causes of kingship
• राज्यहेतू: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: राज्य (प्रातिपदिक) + हेतु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: 'राज्यस्य हेतू' = causes of kingship

• शिशोः: of the child
• शिशोः: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिशु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन

• पादौ: (two) feet
• पादौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction 'and')

• अध्वनि: on a journey/on the road
• अध्वनि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्वन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• कोमलौ: soft/tender
• कोमलौ: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कोमल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन; पादौ इति विशेषणम्

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A child in Kāśī is shown with sturdy, tortoise-shell-like hands gripping a small tool or lotus-staff, while tender feet step onto a long road leading from Gaṅgā ghāṭas toward distant tīrthas—suggesting future sovereignty and pilgrimage.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Agastya
• Kāśī (context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Capacity for righteous action and purposeful movement is portrayed as a sign of ripened merit leading to authority and responsibility.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the overarching sacred landscape, but this verse itself is not tīrtha-specific.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a lakṣaṇa (characteristic) and phala (result) statement.