Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 75

Devanagari script

कः प्राप्य काशीं दुर्मेधाः पुनस्त्यक्तुमिहेह ते । अनेकजन्मजनितकर्मनिर्मूलनक्षमाम्

Transliteration

kaḥ prāpya kāśīṃ durmedhāḥ punastyaktumiheha te | anekajanmajanitakarmanirmūlanakṣamām

Translation

مَن ذا الذي إذا نال كاشي يكون بليدَ الفهم حتى يهجرها ثانيةً، وهي القادرة على اقتلاع الكَرْمَا المتراكمة عبر ولاداتٍ كثيرة من جذورها؟

Word by Word

• कः: who
• कः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• प्राप्य: having attained
• प्राप्य: Kriya (क्रिया; prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-आप् (धातु) + ल्यप् (क्त्वा-प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (Absolutive/Gerund), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया; धातु: √आप् उपसर्ग: प्र

• काशीम्: Kāśī
• काशीम्: Karma (कर्म; object of ‘प्राप्य’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• दुर्मेधाः: a dull-witted person
• दुर्मेधाः: Karta (कर्ता; predicate noun)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्-मेधस् (प्रातिपदिक; components: दुर् + मेधस्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण-रूपेण (address/characterization)

• पुनः: again
• पुनः: Temporal modifier
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; पुनरावृत्त्यर्थक क्रियाविशेषण (again)

• त्यक्तुम्: to abandon
• त्यक्तुम्: Prayojana (प्रयोजन; purpose/complement)
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु) + तुमुन् (प्रत्यय)
• Form: तुमुनन्त (Infinitive), कर्तरि; धातु: √त्यज् (to abandon)

• इह: here
• इह: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक (here)

• एह: come! (interjection)
• एह: Discourse particle
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एह (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; आह्वान/सम्बोधन-निपात (interjection, ‘come!/hey!’)

• ते: you (O you)
• ते: Sambodhana/Recipient (सम्बोधन/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया/चतुर्थी-विभक्ति, एकवचन (enclitic); अत्र सम्बोधनार्थे/सम्बन्धे (‘O you’/‘for you’)

• अनेकजन्मजनितकर्मनिर्मूलनक्षमाम्: capable of uprooting karma produced over many births
• अनेकजन्मजनितकर्मनिर्मूलनक्षमाम्: Karma (कर्म; qualifier of ‘काशीम्’)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनेक-जन्म-जनित-कर्म-निर्मूलन-क्षम (प्रातिपदिक; components: अनेक + जन्म + जनित + कर्म + निर्मूलन + क्षम)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषसमासः (विशेषणं काशीम्)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim at the threshold of leaving Kāśī pauses, looking back at Viśveśvara’s spire and the Gaṅgā ghāṭas; a symbolic uprooting of a dark ‘karma-tree’ occurs in the background, showing Kāśī’s power to remove deep-rooted karmas.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• Karma (karmic residues)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is celebrated as a karmic root-destroyer; spiritual wisdom is to value and remain connected to such liberating sacred space.

Which specific holy site (Tīrtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as the preeminent kṣetra whose very association is said to uproot accumulated karma.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No single rite is specified; the implied discipline is continued residence/association (kṣetra-vāsa/saṃsevanā) and not abandoning Kāśī.