Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 53

Devanagari script

पातिव्रत्यरता नार्यो ये चान्ये ब्रह्मचारिणः । ते चामीपश्यत सुरा ये षंढाः परयोषिति

Transliteration

pātivratyaratā nāryo ye cānye brahmacāriṇaḥ | te cāmīpaśyata surā ye ṣaṃḍhāḥ parayoṣiti

Translation

Frauen, die dem Gelübde ehelicher Treue (pativratā) hingegeben sind, und auch andere, die Brahmacārins sind—seht auch sie, o Götter. Seht ebenso die Impotenten und jene, die nach fremden Frauen verlangen.

Word by Word

• पातिव्रत्यरता: devoted to wifely fidelity
• पातिव्रत्यरता: Visheshana (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पातिव्रत्यरत (प्रातिपदिक; पातिव्रत्य + रत)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; विशेषण

• नार्यः: women
• नार्यः: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नारी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• ये: who
• ये: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धबोधक-सर्वनाम

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-निपात

• अन्ये: others
• अन्ये: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; (others)

• ब्रह्मचारिणः: celibate students/ascetics
• ब्रह्मचारिणः: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मचारिन् (प्रातिपदिक; ब्रह्म + चारिन्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• ते: they
• ते: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-निपात

• अमी: these/those
• अमी: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अदस् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• पश्यत: see! behold!
• पश्यत: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पश् (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• सुराः: O gods
• सुराः: Sambodhana (Addressed)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; संबोधनार्थे अपि (addressing)

• ये: who
• ये: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• षण्ढाः: eunuchs/impotent men
• षण्ढाः: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: षण्ढ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• परयोषिति: in another man's wife
• परयोषिति: Adhikarana (Location/Object of desire)
• Type: Noun
• Root: परयोषित् (प्रातिपदिक; पर + योषित्)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; (locative: in another's wife)

Speaker

Brahmā (context continuation)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis (frame audience)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A didactic tableau: pātivratā women offering lamps, brahmacārins in study, and in the periphery figures symbolizing moral lapse (furtive gaze) contrasted against the kṣetra’s luminous order.

Characters & Entities

• Devas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic dharma highlights chastity and fidelity as virtues, while warning against transgressive desire directed toward another’s spouse.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse sits within Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s broader praise of Kāśī as a place where dharmic conduct is to be recognized and upheld.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual is prescribed; the verse is primarily ethical/social description within the narrative address to the gods.