Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 11

Devanagari script

गच्छन्यदृच्छयासोथ दूराच्छ्रीशैलमैक्षत । यत्र साक्षान्निवसति देवः श्रीत्रिपुरांतकः

Transliteration

gacchanyadṛcchayāsotha dūrācchrīśailamaikṣata | yatra sākṣānnivasati devaḥ śrītripurāṃtakaḥ

Translation

ثم وهو يمضي على غير قصد، أبصر من بعيد شريشايل (Śrīśaila)، حيث يقيم الرب تريبورانتاكا (Tripūrāntaka) إقامةً ظاهرة.

Word by Word

• gacchan: going
• gacchan: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; धातु—गम् ‘going’

• yadṛcchayā: by chance
• yadṛcchayā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yadṛcchā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; क्रियाविशेषणार्थे ‘by chance’

• atha: then
• atha: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अनुक्रम/आरम्भसूचक (then/now)

• u: indeed
• u: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: u (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• dūrāt: from far away
• dūrāt: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dūra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (अथवा अव्ययीभाववत्), पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; क्रियाविशेषणार्थे ‘from afar’

• śrī-śailam: Śrīśaila (the sacred mountain)
• śrī-śailam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śrī (प्रातिपदिक) + śaila (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; समासः—कर्मधारय (श्रीमान् शैलः)

• aikṣata: saw
• aikṣata: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: īkṣ (धातु)
• Form: लङ्-लकार (Imperfect/Past), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; धातु—ईक्ष् ‘to see’

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक सम्बन्धबोधक (relative adverb ‘where’)

• sākṣāt: directly
• sākṣāt: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sākṣāt (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण ‘directly’

• nivasati: dwells
• nivasati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni-vas (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; धातु—नि+वस् ‘to dwell’

• devaḥ: the god
• devaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• śrī-tripura-antakaḥ: Śrī Tripurāntaka (Śiva, destroyer of Tripura)
• śrī-tripura-antakaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śrī (प्रातिपदिक) + tripura (प्रातिपदिक) + antaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः—षष्ठी/तत्पुरुष ‘त्रिपुरस्य अन्तकः’ (destroyer of Tripura), ‘śrī’ उपपद-पूर्वक (honorific prefix)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual; speaker not explicit in the verse)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Śrīśaila

Type: peak

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A traveler-sage, mid-journey, suddenly sees the blue-green mass of Śrīśaila on the horizon; above it, an unseen but felt presence of Tripūrāntaka radiates, turning the landscape into a living shrine.

Characters & Entities

• Śrīśaila
• Tripūrāntaka (Śiva)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred geography is alive with divine presence; even distant darśana of a mahā-tīrtha is treated as spiritually significant.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Śrīśaila, celebrated as the mountain where Tripūrāntaka (Śiva) resides in manifest form.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the act highlighted is darśana (beholding the sacred mountain).