Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 166

Devanagari script

पुर्यां यक्षेश्वराणां ते स्वरूपमिति वर्णितम् । यच्छ्रुत्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो नरो मुच्येदसंशयम्

Transliteration

puryāṃ yakṣeśvarāṇāṃ te svarūpamiti varṇitam | yacchrutvā sarvapāpebhyo naro mucyedasaṃśayam

Translation

So ist dir das wahre Wesen der Yakṣeśvaras in dieser heiligen Stadt beschrieben worden. Wer es hört, wird von allen Sünden befreit – daran besteht kein Zweifel.

Word by Word

• puryām: in the city
• puryām: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: purī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; Locative singular

• yakṣeśvarāṇām: of the lords of the Yakṣas
• yakṣeśvarāṇām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yakṣa + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; Genitive plural; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (yakṣāṇām īśvarāḥ)

• te: of you / your
• te: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; Genitive singular (enclitic)

• svarūpam: true form, nature
• svarūpam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva + rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; Nominative/Accusative singular; कर्मधारय (svaṃ rūpam)

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Discourse marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: इति-शब्दः; quotative particle (वाक्यसमाप्ति/उद्धरणसूचक)

• varṇitam: has been described
• varṇitam: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √varṇ (वर्ण्) + kta (क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्ययान्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; past passive participle; ‘described’

• yat: which
• yat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; Accusative singular; relative pronoun

• śrutvā: having heard
• śrutvā: Kriya (Gerundial action/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śru (श्रु) + ktvā (क्त्वा)
• Form: अव्ययकृदन्त (क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त); gerund/absolutive; ‘having heard’

• sarvapāpebhyaḥ: from all sins
• sarvapāpebhyaḥ: Apādāna (Source/Ablation/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), बहुवचन; Ablative plural; कर्मधारय (sarvāṇi pāpāni)

• naraḥ: a man
• naraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; Nominative singular

• mucyet: would be freed
• mucyet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √muc (मुच्)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative/विधिलिङ्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद-प्रयोगः (मध्य/आत्मनेपद)

• asaṃśayam: without doubt
• asaṃśayam: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: a- + saṃśaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषणरूपेण अव्ययीभूतम्; adverbial accusative (नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa discourse style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sacred narrator completes the description of the Yakṣeśvaras’ true nature in Kāśī; listeners sit in reverent stillness as the city’s sanctity is implied to wash away sins through hearing alone.

Characters & Entities

• Yakṣeśvara
• Kāśī (implied sacred city)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śravaṇa (reverent hearing) of Kāśī’s sacred accounts itself becomes a purifier that destroys sin and leads toward liberation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as the sacred city where Yakṣeśvara-related greatness is recounted.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No external rite is prescribed here; the act emphasized is hearing the sacred description with faith.