Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

अयि काशि विनाशिताघसंघे तवविश्लेषजआशुशुक्षणिः । अमृतांशुकलामृदुद्रवैरतिचित्रंहविषेव वर्धते

Transliteration

ayi kāśi vināśitāghasaṃghe tavaviśleṣajaāśuśukṣaṇiḥ | amṛtāṃśukalāmṛdudravairaticitraṃhaviṣeva vardhate

Translation

يا كاشي، يا مُبيدةَ أكوامِ الخطايا! إنّ الألم السريعَ الجفاف، المولودَ من فراقكِ، يزداد—على نحوٍ عجيب—كَنارِ القُربان إذا أُطعِمت سمنًا مُلطَّفًا بأشعّة القمر الشبيهة بالرحيق.

Word by Word

• अयि: O!
• अयि: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अयि (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बोधनार्थक-निपात

• काशि: O Kāśī
• काशि: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• विनाशित-अघ-संघे: O destroyer of the host of sins
• विनाशित-अघ-संघे: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विनाशित (कृदन्त) + अघ + संघ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन; समासः: तत्पुरुष (अघानां संघः; विनाशितः अघसंघः यस्याः सा)

• तव: your
• तव: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी, एकवचन

• विश्लेष-ज: born of separation
• विश्लेष-ज: Visheshana (Qualifier of शुक्षणिः)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विश्लेष + ज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समासः: तत्पुरुष (विश्लेषात् जातः)

• आशु-शुक्षणिः: swift drying-up (wasting)
• आशु-शुक्षणिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आशु (अव्यय) + शुक्षणि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समासः: अव्ययीभाव (आशु = शीघ्रम्) + शुक्षणिः (शोष/शुष्कता-भावः)

• अमृतांशु-कला-मृदु-द्रवैः: by soft liquids of the moon’s rays
• अमृतांशु-कला-मृदु-द्रवैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अमृतांशु + कला + मृदु + द्रव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; समासः: तत्पुरुष (अमृतांशोः कला; तया मृदवः द्रवाः)

• अति-चित्रम्: very wondrous
• अति-चित्रम्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/Predicative qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अति (अव्यय) + चित्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा, एकवचन; अव्ययीभाव-पूर्वपद ‘अति-’

• हविषा: with oblation
• हविषा: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हविस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• इव: like
• इव: Sambandha (Comparison marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमानार्थक-अव्यय (like/as)

• वर्धते: grows, increases
• वर्धते: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृध् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

Speaker

Śiva

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī/Avimukta

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s audience within the frame narrative

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sacrificial fire flares as moon-cooled ghee is poured; simultaneously, Śiva’s separation-pain from Kāśī ‘dries quickly’ yet paradoxically grows—an alchemical devotional image.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Kāśī
• Moon (amṛtāṃśu)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is praised as a sin-destroying field; separation from such a liberating place intensifies spiritual thirst, depicted through a yajña-fire metaphor.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra), explicitly lauded as ‘vināśitāgha-saṅgha’—the destroyer of accumulated sins.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription; the imagery draws on yajña (havis/oblation) to communicate how longing for Kāśī powerfully grows.