Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 100

Devanagari script

मन्मना मम भक्तश्च मयि सर्वार्पितक्रियः । यथा मोक्षमिहाप्नोति न तथान्यत्रकुत्रचित्

Transliteration

manmanā mama bhaktaśca mayi sarvārpitakriyaḥ | yathā mokṣamihāpnoti na tathānyatrakutracit

Translation

مَن كان قلبُه معلَّقًا بي، ومخلصًا لعبادتي، وجاعلًا كلَّ أعماله قربانًا لي، ينالُ هنا (في كاشي) الموكشا على وجهٍ لا يوجد في أيِّ مكانٍ آخر.

Word by Word

• मत्-मनाः: whose mind is fixed on me
• मत्-मनाः: Karta-predicative (Qualifier of subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मत् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + मनस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन; बहुव्रीहि-समास (यस्य मनः मयि/मयि एव)

• मम: my
• मम: Sambandha (Possessor/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), एकवचन

• भक्तः: devotee
• भक्तः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भक्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √भज्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past participle used as noun)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• मयि: in me
• मयि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन

• सर्व-अर्पित-क्रियः: one who has offered all actions (to me)
• सर्व-अर्पित-क्रियः: Karta-predicative (Qualifier of subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक) + अर्पित (कृदन्त; √अर्प्, क्त) + क्रिया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (सर्वाः क्रियाः मयि अर्पिताः यस्य)

• यथा: as/how
• यथा: Sambandha (Clause linker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकार/उपमानार्थक (comparative/conjunctive adverb)

• मोक्षम्: liberation
• मोक्षम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मोक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन

• इह: here (in Kāśī/this world)
• इह: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक (here)

• आप्नोति: attains
• आप्नोति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आप् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेधार्थक (negation particle)

• तथा: in that way/so
• तथा: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक (thus/in that way)

• अन्यत्र: elsewhere
• अन्यत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक (elsewhere)

• कुत्रचित्: anywhere at all
• कुत्रचित्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कुत्रचित् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अनिश्चित-स्थानवाचक (indefinite locative adverb)

Speaker

Śiva (deduced from immediate context of Tāraka-Brahman teaching in Kāśī)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī/Avimukta

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: addressed audience within the narrative (dvija/sages implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee in Kāśī performing daily acts—bathing, offering flowers, lighting lamps—while mentally absorbed in Śiva; the city’s temples and ghāṭs frame the scene, suggesting ‘all actions offered’.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Kāśī (implied)
• Mokṣa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Single-point devotion and surrender of all actions to Śiva culminate in liberation, with Kāśī extolled as uniquely potent for mokṣa.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī/Avimukta, the famed liberating sacred geography of the Skanda Purāṇa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

An inner discipline is prescribed: offering all actions to Śiva (sarvārpita-kriyā) and steady devotion (bhakti).