Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

प्रसंगतोपि यन्नेत्रपथमानंदकाननम् । यातं तेत्र न जायंते नेक्षेरन्पितृकान नम्

Transliteration

prasaṃgatopi yannetrapathamānaṃdakānanam | yātaṃ tetra na jāyaṃte nekṣeranpitṛkāna nam

Translation

ولو مصادفةً، إذا وقع بستانُ الفرح (آنندكانانا) في مدى البصر، فلا يعود المرء إلى ذلك العالم الذي فيه تُولد الكائنات؛ ولا يُبصر ثانيةً «غابة الآباء» (عالم الأسلاف).

Word by Word

• प्रसङ्गतः: by chance/incidentally
• प्रसङ्गतः: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रसङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावार्थे ‘by chance/incidentally’

• अपि: even
• अपि: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle)

• यत्: which (relative)
• यत्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; सम्बन्धबोधक

• नेत्रपथम्: the range/path of sight
• नेत्रपथम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नेत्र (प्रातिपदिक) + पथ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: नेत्रस्य पथः); पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• आनन्दकाननम्: the blissful forest (Ānandakānana)
• आनन्दकाननम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आनन्द (प्रातिपदिक) + कानन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (आनन्दं काननम्); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन (सन्दर्भे कर्मरूपे)

• यातम्: having gone/visited
• यातम्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; ‘gone/visited’

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक (adverb of place)

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात (negation particle)

• जायन्ते: are born/arise
• जायन्ते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; आत्मनेपद

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात

• ईक्षेरन्: would see
• ईक्षेरन्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ईक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• पितृकान्: ancestral spirits (pitṛs)
• पितृकान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन

• नाम: indeed/so-called
• नाम: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नाम (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, खलु/इति-प्राय (emphatic particle)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context: Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Ānandakānana

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-seeking interlocutors (ṛṣi assembly typical)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim pauses; through an arch of sacred trees the Ānandakānana grove appears, suffused with light; subtle imagery of broken chains (saṃsāra) and a fading pitṛ-forest in the distance.

Characters & Entities

• Ānandakānana
• Kāśī
• Pitṛs (ancestors)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Darśana of Kāśī’s sacred precincts is exalted as liberating—even accidental sight is said to bear mokṣa-oriented merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Ānandakānana, the ‘Delightful Grove’ associated with Kāśī’s sacred geography.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite; the emphasis is on darśana—seeing the holy grove/area as spiritually efficacious.