Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 65

Devanagari script

मुने चतुर्दशैतानि महालिंगानि यत्नतः । दृष्ट्वा न जायते जंतुः संसारे दुःखसागरे

Transliteration

mune caturdaśaitāni mahāliṃgāni yatnataḥ | dṛṣṭvā na jāyate jaṃtuḥ saṃsāre duḥkhasāgare

Translation

হে মুনি, এই চৌদ্দটা মহালিঙ্গ যত্নে দৰ্শন কৰিলে জীৱে সংসাৰ—দুখৰ সাগৰ—ত পুনৰ জন্ম নলয়।

Word by Word

• मुने: O sage
• मुने: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• चतुर्दश: fourteen
• चतुर्दश: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्दश (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्याविशेषण (द्विगु-समास), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; एतानि इति विशेष्यस्य विशेषणम्

• एतानि: these
• एतानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• महा-लिङ्गानि: great liṅgas
• महा-लिङ्गानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; एतानि इति समानाधिकरणम्

• यत्नतः: with effort; carefully
• यत्नतः: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (तसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त), क्रियाविशेषण

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• दृष्ट्वा: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालिक क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया

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

• जायते: is born; arises
• जायते: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• जन्तुः: a creature; being
• जन्तुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्तु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• संसारे: in worldly existence
• संसारे: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संसार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन

• दुःख-सागरे: in the ocean of suffering
• दुःख-सागरे: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःख (प्रातिपदिक) + सागर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (दुःखस्य सागरः); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; संसारे इति समानाधिकरणम्

Speaker

Skanda (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Caturdaśa Mahāliṅga-darśana (Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (addressed as ‘priye’), with the sage as secondary hearer

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim-sage in Kāśī completes a reverent circuit of fourteen radiant liṅgas, each haloed; the city’s ghāṭas and temple spires frame the ‘ocean of saṃsāra’ as a dark, receding backdrop.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Fourteen Mahāliṅgas
• Saṃsāra
• Duḥkha-sāgara
• Mokṣa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred seeing (darśana) of Kāśī’s great Liṅgas is portrayed as a liberating encounter that cuts rebirth.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī’s fourteen Mahāliṅga shrines, visited as a deliberate pilgrimage.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Undertake careful darśana (and implied worship) of all fourteen Mahāliṅgas as a focused spiritual practice.