Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 83

Devanagari script

महाकाल महाकाल महाकालेति कीर्तनात् । शतधा मुच्यते पापैर्नात्र कार्या विचारणा

Transliteration

mahākāla mahākāla mahākāleti kīrtanāt | śatadhā mucyate pāpairnātra kāryā vicāraṇā

Translation

Durch das Singen „Mahākāla, Mahākāla, Mahākāla“ wird man hundertfach von Sünden befreit—hier ist kein Zweifel und kein Streit nötig.

Word by Word

• महाकाल: O Mahākāla
• महाकाल: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (descriptive: 'great Kāla' as name of Śiva), पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-प्रथमा (Vocative), एकवचन

• महाकाल: O Mahākāla
• महाकाल: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास, पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन (पुनरुक्ति for emphasis)

• महाकाल: O Mahākāla
• महाकाल: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास, पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Discourse marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, उद्धरणसूचक

• कीर्तनात्: from chanting
• कीर्तनात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कीर्तन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन; हेत्वर्थ (cause: 'from/by the act of chanting')

• शतधा: a hundredfold
• शतधा: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: शतधा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, संख्याविशेषण-क्रियाविशेषण (adverb: a hundredfold)

• मुच्यते: is freed
• मुच्यते: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन, आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive: 'is released')

• पापैः: from sins
• पापैः: Apadana (Separation/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), बहुवचन; अपादानार्थे (separation sense: 'from sins')

• न: not
• न: Pratishedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, निषेध

• अत्र: here/in this matter
• अत्र: Adhikarana (Scope/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक (locative adverb: here/in this matter)

• कार्या: to be done/necessary
• कार्या: Vidhana (Predicate qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कार्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विधेय-विशेषण (predicate adjective with implied 'विचारणा')

• विचारणा: consideration/deliberation
• विचारणा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विचारणा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speaker

Unspecified (contextual narrator within Skanda’s Kāśī Māhātmya discourse)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mahākāla-nāma (name-mahātmya within Kāśī context)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Sages (frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A circle of devotees in a Kāśī shrine courtyard chant ‘Mahākāla’ thrice with raised hands; dark smoke-like forms representing sins shatter into fragments ‘a hundredfold,’ while a fierce-compassionate Śiva aura stands behind the liṅga.

Characters & Entities

• Mahākāla
• Śiva
• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Nāma-kīrtana (chanting the divine name) is affirmed as a swift purifier; Mahākāla’s name is treated as intrinsically liberating.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Mahākāla worship within the Kāśī sacred framework (the Mahākāla form of Śiva).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Kīrtana/japa of the name “Mahākāla” (repeated chanting).