Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 65

Devanagari script

कमठीपृष्ठकठिनावकर्मकरणौ करौ । राज्यहेतू शिशोरस्य पादौ चाध्वनि कोमलौ

Transliteration

kamaṭhīpṛṣṭhakaṭhināvakarmakaraṇau karau | rājyahetū śiśorasya pādau cādhvani komalau

Translation

Sind die Hände des Kindes fest und hart wie der Rücken einer Schildkröte, zur Arbeit tauglich, so werden sie zur Ursache königlicher Herrschaft; und sind seine Füße zart für den Weg, so ist ihm bestimmt, große Pfade zu beschreiten.

Word by Word

• कमठीपृष्ठकठिनावकर्मकरणौ: hard (like) a tortoise-back, work-capable
• कमठीपृष्ठकठिनावकर्मकरणौ: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कमठी (प्रातिपदिक) + पृष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक) + कठिन (प्रातिपदिक) + अव (उपसर्ग/अव्यय-प्राय) + कर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + करण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषसमासः (वर्णनात्मक): 'कमठी-पृष्ठ-कठिन-अव-कर्म-करण' = (hands) hard like a tortoise-back, fit for work/doing

• करौ: (two) hands
• करौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन

• राज्यहेतू: causes of kingship
• राज्यहेतू: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: राज्य (प्रातिपदिक) + हेतु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: 'राज्यस्य हेतू' = causes of kingship

• शिशोः: of the child
• शिशोः: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिशु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन

• पादौ: (two) feet
• पादौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction 'and')

• अध्वनि: on a journey/on the road
• अध्वनि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्वन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• कोमलौ: soft/tender
• कोमलौ: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कोमल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन; पादौ इति विशेषणम्

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A child in Kāśī is shown with sturdy, tortoise-shell-like hands gripping a small tool or lotus-staff, while tender feet step onto a long road leading from Gaṅgā ghāṭas toward distant tīrthas—suggesting future sovereignty and pilgrimage.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Agastya
• Kāśī (context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Capacity for righteous action and purposeful movement is portrayed as a sign of ripened merit leading to authority and responsibility.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the overarching sacred landscape, but this verse itself is not tīrtha-specific.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a lakṣaṇa (characteristic) and phala (result) statement.