Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मांडं किमकांडे वै लयमेष्यति तत्कथम् । परापतंति नाद्यापि पारावारा इतस्ततः

Transliteration

brahmāṃḍaṃ kimakāṃḍe vai layameṣyati tatkatham | parāpataṃti nādyāpi pārāvārā itastataḥ

Translation

কি এই ব্রহ্মাণ্ড হঠাৎই প্রলয়ে পতিত হবে—এ কীভাবে সম্ভব? দেখ, এখনও চারদিকে সমুদ্রের জল এদিক-ওদিক ছুটে এসে আছড়ে পড়ছে।

Word by Word

• ब्रह्माण्डम्: the cosmic egg/universe
• ब्रह्माण्डम्: Karta (Topic/subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + अण्ड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (ब्रह्मणः अण्डम्), नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; अत्र प्रथमा (वाक्यविषयः)

• किम्: why/what (reason)
• किम्: Sambandha (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverbial use: ‘why/how’)

• अकाण्डे: suddenly/at an untimely time
• अकाण्डे: Adhikarana (Circumstance/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अकाण्ड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; ‘at an untimely moment/suddenly’

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (Emphasis/निश्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चयार्थक-निपात (indeed)

• लयम्: dissolution
• लयम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• एष्यति: will go/attain
• एष्यति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: इ (धातु)
• Form: लृट्-लकार (Simple Future), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• तत्: then/therefore
• तत्: Sambandha (Discourse link/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव/निपातवत् प्रयोगः; ‘then/that being so’

• कथम्: how
• कथम्: Sambandha (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम् (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (how)

• परापतन्ति: they fall down/decline
• परापतन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: परा-√पत् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-निपात

• अद्यापि: even now/still
• अद्यापि: Adhikarana (Time adverbial/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य (अव्यय) + अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययसमूहः (even today/still now)

• पारावाराः: the far and near shores/banks
• पारावाराः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार (प्रातिपदिक) + अवार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः (पारं च अवारं च), पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; ‘shores (both sides)’

• इतस्: from here
• इतस्: Adhikarana (Directional adverbial/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इतस् (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (from here/this side)

• ततः: from there
• ततः: Adhikarana (Directional adverbial/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (from there/that side)

Speaker

Narrator (collective alarm within Vyāsa’s narration by context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (implied)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Community/elders (implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: People debate in terror while vast oceans on all sides heave and crash; the universe imagined as an egg threatened by dissolution.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmāṇḍa (cosmic egg)
• Oceans (pārāvāra)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Cosmic disorder evokes fear of pralaya; dharma’s stability is portrayed as the safeguard of the world.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named; the verse belongs to the Kāśī-khaṇḍa’s broader sacred narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse.