Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 40

Devanagari script

विदध्यात्षोडशे वर्षे केशांतकर्म च क्रमात् । द्वाविंशे च चतुर्विंशे गार्हस्थ्य प्रतिपत्तये

Transliteration

vidadhyātṣoḍaśe varṣe keśāṃtakarma ca kramāt | dvāviṃśe ca caturviṃśe gārhasthya pratipattaye

Translation

عليه أن يُجري شعيرة الكيشانتا (keśānta) في سنته السادسة عشرة على الترتيب المأثور؛ وفي الثانية والعشرين إلى الرابعة والعشرين يدخل أشرم الغِرْهَسْثا (مرحلة ربّ البيت).

Word by Word

• विदध्यात्: should perform/arrange
• विदध्यात्: Pradhana-kriya (Main action/प्रधानक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि + धा (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ्-लकार (optative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• षोडशे: in the sixteenth
• षोडशे: Adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षोडश (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; संख्यावाचक विशेषण

• वर्षे: year
• वर्षे: Adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• केशान्तकर्म: the hair-cutting rite (keśānta)
• केशान्तकर्म: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: केशान्त + कर्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (केशानां अन्तः/छेदनं यस्मिन् तत्)

• च: and
• च: Discourse particle (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक

• क्रमात्: in due order
• क्रमात्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावे प्रयोगः (ablatival adverb: ‘in due order’)

• द्वाविंशे: in the twenty-second
• द्वाविंशे: Adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वाविंश (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; संख्यावाचक विशेषण

• च: and
• च: Discourse particle (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक

• चतुर्विंशे: in the twenty-fourth
• चतुर्विंशे: Adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्विंश (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; संख्यावाचक विशेषण

• गार्हस्थ्य: householder-hood (gārhasthya)
• गार्हस्थ्य: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गार्हस्थ्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• प्रतिपत्तये: for entering/attaining
• प्रतिपत्तये: Sampradana (Purpose/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रतिपत्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, typically Skanda instructing Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A young brahmacārin undergoes keśānta (first shaving/tonsure rite) with a teacher on a Kāśī ghat; in the background, a wedding procession hints at later gṛhastha entry.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma is lived through orderly life-stages (āśramas) and timely saṃskāras, aligning personal growth with sacred tradition.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage is situated in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī-centered teaching environment rather than naming a single tirtha in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Keśānta-saṃskāra at age sixteen, followed by entering gārhasthya between ages twenty-two and twenty-four.