Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 90

Devanagari script

अरूपोपि सरूपाढ्यः स धात्रा नेत्रगीकृतः । तारयेद्यद्भवांभोधेः स्वजपासक्तमानसम् । ततस्तार इति ख्यातो यस्तं ब्रह्मा व्यलोकयत्

Transliteration

arūpopi sarūpāḍhyaḥ sa dhātrā netragīkṛtaḥ | tārayedyadbhavāṃbhodheḥ svajapāsaktamānasam | tatastāra iti khyāto yastaṃ brahmā vyalokayat

Translation

مع أنّه بلا صورة، فهو غنيّ بكلّ الصور. جعله الخالق (Dhātṛ) موضوعًا للرؤية الباطنية؛ إذ إنّه يُعَبِّر بعقلٍ مواظبٍ على جَپاه الخاصّ بحرَ التكوّن. لذلك اشتهر باسم «تارا»؛ الصوت المُنقِذ—ذاك الذي عاينه براهما.

Word by Word

• arūpaḥ: formless
• arūpaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; नञ्-तत्पुरुषः (न + रूप) = 'रूपरहितः'

• api: even/also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), 'अपि' = 'even/also'

• sarūpa-āḍhyaḥ: endowed with form/beauty
• sarūpa-āḍhyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sa-rūpa + āḍhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः—'सरूपः च आढ्यः' = 'रूपसम्पन्नः/समृद्धः'

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• dhātrā: by the Creator (Dhātṛ/Brahmā)
• dhātrā: Karta (Agent in passive/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhātṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; करण/कर्तृ-निर्देशे

• netra-gī-kṛtaḥ: made/placed in the eye(s)
• netra-gī-kṛtaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: netra + gī + kṛ (कृ धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त) 'कृत'; तत्पुरुषः—'नेत्रे गी(=गि/गी-शब्दः) कृतः' = 'नेत्रे स्थापितः/नेत्रगतः'

• tārayet: may he ferry across / save
• tārayet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: tṝ (तॄ धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; causative sense 'to cause to cross/save'

• yat: which/that (one)
• yat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक (relative pronoun)

• bhava-ambhodheḥ: from the ocean of becoming (saṃsāra)
• bhava-ambhodheḥ: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhava + ambhodhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—'भवस्य अम्भोधिः' = 'संसारसागरः'

• sva-japa-āsakta-mānasam: whose mind is attached to one’s own japa
• sva-japa-āsakta-mānasam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sva + japa + āsakta + mānasa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः—'स्वजपे आसक्तं मानसं यस्य' (अर्थतः बहुव्रीह्यर्थ-विशेषण)

• tataḥ: therefore/then
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, अव्ययीभावार्थे/क्रियाविशेषण; 'therefore/then'

• tāraḥ: Tāra (name)
• tāraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Quotative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, उद्धरण/इति-निपात

• khyātaḥ: was known/called
• khyātaḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: khyā (ख्या धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्मणि/भावे—'प्रसिद्धः'

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक

• tam: him/that
• tam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• brahmā: Brahmā
• brahmā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• vyalokayat: looked at/observed
• vyalokayat: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi + lok (लोक् धातु)
• Form: लङ् (imperfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; 'व्य-आ-लोकयत्'

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer audience (ṛṣis/śaunaka-lineage typical frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Brahmā (Dhātṛ), lotus-born, seated in meditation, beholds within the heart a luminous, formless-yet-all-formed presence as a radiant syllable/seed-sound ‘Tāra’, depicted as a subtle boat of light carrying a japa-absorbed seeker across a dark ocean of becoming.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā (Dhātṛ)
• Tāra (liberating sound/mantra)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotion expressed as mantra-japa becomes a ferry across saṃsāra; the liberating principle is the Tāra sound.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching belongs to Kāśī’s Māhātmya framework, where liberation is linked with the Tāra/Pranava tradition of Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Japa (repetition/meditation on the saving mantra) with a mind absorbed in it.