Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 67

Devanagari script

गुरुणैतन्नितंबेन महामन्मथ दीक्षया । भुवि के के युवानो न स्वाधीना प्रापितादृशाम्

Transliteration

guruṇaitannitaṃbena mahāmanmatha dīkṣayā | bhuvi ke ke yuvāno na svādhīnā prāpitādṛśām

Translation

وبثِقَل ذلك الورك العريض—كأنه طقسُ تَلقينٍ لدى مانماثا العظيم—أيُّ شابٍّ على الأرض لا يُساق إلى الخضوع لسلطان مثل هذه الرؤية؟

Word by Word

• guruṇā: by the heavy
• guruṇā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: guru (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine/Neuter), तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular); विशेषणम् to nitaṃbena

• etat: this
• etat: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular); विशेषणम् to nitaṃbena

• nitaṃbena: by the buttocks/hips
• nitaṃbena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nitaṃba (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular)

• mahā-manmatha: O great Manmatha (Kāma)
• mahā-manmatha: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + manmatha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), संबोधन (Vocative), एकवचन (Singular)

• dīkṣayā: by initiation / consecration
• dīkṣayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dīkṣā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular)

• bhuvi: on earth
• bhuvi: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhū (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन (Singular)

• ke: who (which)
• ke: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural); प्रश्नवाचक (interrogative)

• ke: who indeed
• ke: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural); पुनरुक्ति (emphatic repetition)

• yuvānaḥ: young men
• yuvānaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuvan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• na: not
• na: Pratishedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्ययम् (negation particle)

• svādhīnāḥ: self-controlled / under one’s own power
• svādhīnāḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: svādhīna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural); विशेषणम् to yuvānaḥ

• prāpita-adṛśām: of those whose (glances/beauty) have been made attainable/obtained
• prāpita-adṛśām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prāpita (कृदन्त, √āp, णिच् causative, क्त) + adṛśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), षष्ठी (Genitive), बहुवचन (Plural); विशेषणम् (genitive qualifier) with implied ‘strīṇām’/‘tāsām’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A rhetorical flourish: the heroine’s broad, weighty hips are likened to a ‘dīkṣā’ (initiation) into mighty Manmatha; young men are imagined inevitably brought under her sway—suggesting a scene of collective enchantment.

Characters & Entities

• Manmatha/Kāma
• Kāśī (implied context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The verse underscores the compelling force of attraction, implicitly preparing the ground for the text’s broader dharmic ideal: directing the mind toward Śiva and sacred duty in Kāśī.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī overall, within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; “dīkṣā” is used as poetic metaphor, not as a stated ritual.