Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 67

Devanagari script

तदग्रे कालगंगा च कलिकल्मषनाशिनी । तस्यां स्नात्वा नरो धीमांस्तत्क्षणान्निरघो भवेत्

Transliteration

tadagre kālagaṃgā ca kalikalmaṣanāśinī | tasyāṃ snātvā naro dhīmāṃstatkṣaṇānniragho bhavet

Translation

তার সম্মুখে আছে ‘কালগঙ্গা’, যা কলিযুগের কল্মষ নাশ করে। তাতে স্নান করলে জ্ঞানী ব্যক্তি সেই মুহূর্তেই নিষ্পাপ হয়।

Word by Word

• तत्-अग्रे: in front of that (tīrtha)
• तत्-अग्रे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + अग्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; सप्तमी-अर्थे अव्ययम् = ‘in front of that/before it’

• काल-गङ्गा: Kālagangā
• काल-गङ्गा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल (प्रातिपदिक) + गङ्गा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन; समासः: कालस्य गङ्गा (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• कलि-कल्मष-नाशिनी: destroyer of the impurity of Kali (age)
• कलि-कल्मष-नाशिनी: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कलि (प्रातिपदिक) + कल्मष (प्रातिपदिक) + नाशिनी (नश् धातु, णिनि-प्रत्यय; कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; णिनि-प्रत्ययान्त (agent noun) ‘destroyer’; समासः: कलिकल्मषस्य नाशिनी (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• तस्याम्: in her/in that (river)
• तस्याम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन

• स्नात्वा: having bathed
• स्नात्वा: Kriya (Gerundial action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्ना (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (gerund) = having bathed

• नरः: a man
• नरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन

• धीमान्: wise
• धीमान्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धीमत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• तत्-क्षणात्: from that moment
• तत्-क्षणात्: Apadana (Ablative point/अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + क्षण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; पञ्चमी-अर्थे अव्ययम् = ‘from that very moment’

• निर्-अघः: sinless
• निर्-अघः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर् (उपसर्ग) + अघ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः: निर्गतम् अघं यस्मात् (निरघः = sinless)

• भवेत्: would become
• भवेत्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāla-gaṅgā

Type: sangam

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A narrow sacred watercourse labeled Kāla-gaṅgā, dark-lustrous yet pure; a wise pilgrim steps in, and a visual metaphor shows black Kali-age soot dissolving instantly into clear water; light breaks through above the ghat.

Characters & Entities

• Kāla-gaṅgā
• Kali Yuga
• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even in Kali-yuga, sincere purification in a sacred tīrtha can bring immediate moral and spiritual cleansing.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāla-gaṅgā, a tīrtha in Kāśī famed for removing Kali-age impurities.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Bathing (snāna) in Kāla-gaṅgā.