Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 91

Devanagari script

हा कालबालकवती किमुतेन राज्ञी त्वत्कालतां न हृतवान्नसुताननेंदुः । बालेति कोमलमृणाल लतांगलीलं दंभोलिनिष्ठुरकठोरकुठारदंष्ट्रः

Transliteration

hā kālabālakavatī kimutena rājñī tvatkālatāṃ na hṛtavānnasutānaneṃduḥ | bāleti komalamṛṇāla latāṃgalīlaṃ daṃbholiniṣṭhurakaṭhorakuṭhāradaṃṣṭraḥ

Translation

হায়! কাল তাকে নিঃসন্তান করল! তবে এই রাণীর কী হবে—পুত্র-মুখচন্দ্র কি তার প্রাণশক্তি কেড়ে নেয়নি? ‘শিশু!’—তবু কোমল পদ্মনাল-লতার মতো দেহলীলাকে কাল আঘাত করল; যার দন্ত বজ্রের মতো কঠোর, কুঠারের মতো নির্মম, খড়্গের মতো নিষ্ঠুর।

Word by Word

• हा: alas
• हा: Bhava (Exclamation/उद्गार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हा (अव्यय)
• Form: शोकसूचक-अव्यय — interjection

• कालबालकवती: she who has (a) time-doomed child
• कालबालकवती: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: काल + बालक + वती (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — Nominative singular; बहुव्रीहि: ‘कालः बालकः यस्याः सा’ (having Time as a child / having a child doomed by time)

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Sambandha (Interrogative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्ययवत् प्रयोग — interrogative particle

• उत: indeed / then
• उत: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उत (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प/उत्कर्षार्थक-अव्यय — particle (‘indeed/then’)

• एनेन: by this
• एनेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, तृतीया (3), एकवचन — Instrumental singular (‘by this/with this’)

• राज्ञी: the queen
• राज्ञी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राज्ञी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — Nominative singular

• त्वत्कालताम्: your ‘time-ness’ / your being Time (death)
• त्वत्कालताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्वद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + कालता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन — Accusative singular; समास: त्वद् + कालता (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

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

• हृतवान्: has taken away
• हृतवान्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: हृ (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्तवत्), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — Past active participle ‘having taken away’

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

• सुताननेन्दुः: the moon of her son's face (i.e., her son)
• सुताननेन्दुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुत + आनन + इन्दु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — Nominative singular; समास: सुत (षष्ठी) + आनन (तत्पुरुष) + इन्दु (कर्मधारय: ‘आनन-इन्दुः’)

• बाल: O child
• बाल: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8), एकवचन — Vocative singular

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Quotation marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरणार्थक-अव्यय — quotative

• कोमलमृणाल: tender like a lotus-stalk
• कोमलमृणाल: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कोमल + मृणाल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुं?— अत्र ‘लतांगलीलम्’ (नपुं) इत्यस्य विशेषणत्वात् नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन — Accusative singular; समास: कोमल + मृणाल (कर्मधारय)

• लतांगलीलम्: playful/graceful like a creeper-bodied (one)
• लतांगलीलम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लता + अङ्ग + लील (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन — Accusative singular; समास: लता-अङ्ग (कर्मधारय) + लील (तत्पुरुष: ‘लताङ्ग-लीलम्’)

• दंभोलिनिष्ठुरकठोरकुठारदंष्ट्रः: one whose fangs are like a hard thunderbolt-axe (i.e., cruel death)
• दंभोलिनिष्ठुरकठोरकुठारदंष्ट्रः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दंभोलि + निष्ठुर + कठोर + कुठार + दंष्ट्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन — Nominative singular; बहुव्रीहि: ‘दंभोलिवत् निष्ठुरः, कठोरः, कुठारवत् दंष्ट्रा यस्य सः’

Speaker

Narrator/lamentspeaker within the story (describing the queen’s grief)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A queen clutches her chest, staring at the imagined ‘moon-face’ of her son; Kāla is personified with thunderbolt/axe/blade-like fangs striking the tender lotus-stalk body of the child.

Characters & Entities

• Kāla

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It stresses impermanence: Time spares none, urging the seeker toward the deathless refuge praised throughout the Kāśī Khaṇḍa.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Not named in the verse; the larger Kāśī Khaṇḍa context points to Kāśī as the sacred place where death is transformed into liberation.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly.