Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 14

Devanagari script

नगरी प्लाविता स्वप्ने तरंगैः क्षीरनीरधेः । पक्षैस्त्रिचतुरैः शंके महाशंकां पुरौकसाम्

Transliteration

nagarī plāvitā svapne taraṃgaiḥ kṣīranīradheḥ | pakṣaistricaturaiḥ śaṃke mahāśaṃkāṃ puraukasām

Translation

في المنام غُمِرت المدينة بأمواج بحرٍ لبنيّ؛ وأظنّ أنه خلال ثلاث أو أربع فتراتٍ نصف شهرية ستنهض رهبةٌ عظيمة في قلوب سكان المدينة.

Word by Word

• नगरी: the city
• नगरी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नगरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; feminine, nominative singular

• प्लाविता: flooded, made to float
• प्लाविता: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्लु (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; past passive participle, feminine nominative singular

• स्वप्ने: in a dream
• स्वप्ने: Adhikaraṇa (Location/Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वप्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; masculine, locative singular

• तरंगैः: by waves
• तरंगैः: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तरंग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; masculine, instrumental plural

• क्षीर: milk
• क्षीर: Samāsa-aṅga (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षीर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (समासाङ्ग); neuter, nominative/accusative singular (compound member)

• नीरधेः: of the ocean of milk
• नीरधेः: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नीरधि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; masculine, genitive singular; समासः: क्षीर-नीरधि (तत्पुरुष: 'ocean of milk')

• पक्षैः: by (within) periods/fortnights
• पक्षैः: Karaṇa (Instrument/Measure/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; masculine, instrumental plural

• त्रि: three
• त्रि: Samāsa-aṅga (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रि (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्यावाचक, अव्ययवत् पूर्वपद (समासाङ्ग); numeral 'three' (compound member)

• चतुरैः: four
• चतुरैः: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; numeral/adjective, instrumental plural

• शंके: I suspect, I fear
• शंके: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: शङ्क् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद; present, 1st person singular, middle

• महा: great
• महा: Samāsa-aṅga (Compound member/समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् पूर्वपद (समासाङ्ग); indeclinable-like first member in compound

• शंकाम्: great fear
• शंकाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शंका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; feminine, accusative singular; समासः: महा-शंका (कर्मधारय: 'great fear')

• पुरौकसाम्: of the city-dwellers
• पुरौकसाम्: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरौकस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन; masculine, genitive plural

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī / Gaṅgā

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A surreal dream: Kāśī’s lanes and rooftops submerged under luminous white waves like milk; foam curls around temple spires; citizens appear as tiny silhouettes; a narrator counts ‘three or four fortnights’ with anxious certainty.

Characters & Entities

• City (nagarī)
• Kṣīra-samudra (ocean of milk, mythic image)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Collective danger is signaled through symbolic dreams; communities must respond with unity, discipline, and dharmic safeguards.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Kāśī-khaṇḍa setting implies Kāśī’s sacred city, though the verse speaks generally of ‘the city’ in an omen-context.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is stated; a time window (three or four pakṣas) is given for the expected crisis.