Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 91

Devanagari script

हा कालबालकवती किमुतेन राज्ञी त्वत्कालतां न हृतवान्नसुताननेंदुः । बालेति कोमलमृणाल लतांगलीलं दंभोलिनिष्ठुरकठोरकुठारदंष्ट्रः

Transliteration

hā kālabālakavatī kimutena rājñī tvatkālatāṃ na hṛtavānnasutānaneṃduḥ | bāleti komalamṛṇāla latāṃgalīlaṃ daṃbholiniṣṭhurakaṭhorakuṭhāradaṃṣṭraḥ

Translation

وا أسفاه—قد جعلها الزمانُ بلا ولد! فماذا عن هذه الملكة؟ أليس قمرُ وجهِ ابنها قد سلب منها الحياةَ نفسها؟ «طفلٌ!»—ومع ذلك فقد ضُرِبَت تلك الملاعبةُ الرقيقةُ لجسدٍ كالساقِ اللينةِ للوتس وكالغصنِ المتسلّق، بضربةِ الزمان ذي الأنياب كالصاعقة القاسية، وكالفأس الصلب، وكالنصل الجائر.

Word by Word

• हा: alas
• हा: Bhava (Exclamation/उद्गार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हा (अव्यय)
• Form: शोकसूचक-अव्यय — interjection

• कालबालकवती: she who has (a) time-doomed child
• कालबालकवती: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: काल + बालक + वती (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — Nominative singular; बहुव्रीहि: ‘कालः बालकः यस्याः सा’ (having Time as a child / having a child doomed by time)

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Sambandha (Interrogative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्ययवत् प्रयोग — interrogative particle

• उत: indeed / then
• उत: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उत (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प/उत्कर्षार्थक-अव्यय — particle (‘indeed/then’)

• एनेन: by this
• एनेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, तृतीया (3), एकवचन — Instrumental singular (‘by this/with this’)

• राज्ञी: the queen
• राज्ञी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राज्ञी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — Nominative singular

• त्वत्कालताम्: your ‘time-ness’ / your being Time (death)
• त्वत्कालताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्वद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + कालता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन — Accusative singular; समास: त्वद् + कालता (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• न: not
• न: Pratishedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय — negation

• हृतवान्: has taken away
• हृतवान्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: हृ (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्तवत्), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — Past active participle ‘having taken away’

• न: not
• न: Pratishedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय — negation

• सुताननेन्दुः: the moon of her son's face (i.e., her son)
• सुताननेन्दुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुत + आनन + इन्दु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — Nominative singular; समास: सुत (षष्ठी) + आनन (तत्पुरुष) + इन्दु (कर्मधारय: ‘आनन-इन्दुः’)

• बाल: O child
• बाल: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8), एकवचन — Vocative singular

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Quotation marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरणार्थक-अव्यय — quotative

• कोमलमृणाल: tender like a lotus-stalk
• कोमलमृणाल: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कोमल + मृणाल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुं?— अत्र ‘लतांगलीलम्’ (नपुं) इत्यस्य विशेषणत्वात् नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन — Accusative singular; समास: कोमल + मृणाल (कर्मधारय)

• लतांगलीलम्: playful/graceful like a creeper-bodied (one)
• लतांगलीलम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लता + अङ्ग + लील (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन — Accusative singular; समास: लता-अङ्ग (कर्मधारय) + लील (तत्पुरुष: ‘लताङ्ग-लीलम्’)

• दंभोलिनिष्ठुरकठोरकुठारदंष्ट्रः: one whose fangs are like a hard thunderbolt-axe (i.e., cruel death)
• दंभोलिनिष्ठुरकठोरकुठारदंष्ट्रः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दंभोलि + निष्ठुर + कठोर + कुठार + दंष्ट्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — Nominative singular; बहुव्रीहि: ‘दंभोलिवत् निष्ठुरः, कठोरः, कुठारवत् दंष्ट्रा यस्य सः’

Speaker

Narrator/lamentspeaker within the story (describing the queen’s grief)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A queen clutches her chest, staring at the imagined ‘moon-face’ of her son; Kāla is personified with thunderbolt/axe/blade-like fangs striking the tender lotus-stalk body of the child.

Characters & Entities

• Kāla

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It stresses impermanence: Time spares none, urging the seeker toward the deathless refuge praised throughout the Kāśī Khaṇḍa.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not named in the verse; the larger Kāśī Khaṇḍa context points to Kāśī as the sacred place where death is transformed into liberation.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly.