Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 83

Devanagari script

तीर्थांतराणि कलुषाणि हरति सद्यः श्रेयो ददत्यपि बहु त्रिदिवं नयंति । पानावगाहनविधानतनुप्रहाणैर्वाराणसी तु कुरुते बत मूलनाशम्

Transliteration

tīrthāṃtarāṇi kaluṣāṇi harati sadyaḥ śreyo dadatyapi bahu tridivaṃ nayaṃti | pānāvagāhanavidhānatanuprahāṇairvārāṇasī tu kurute bata mūlanāśam

Translation

Andere Tīrthas nehmen zwar sogleich die Unreinheiten hinweg; sie schenken auch vielfältiges Heil und können zum Himmel führen. Doch Vārāṇasī—durch die Übungen des Trinkens ihres Wassers, des rituellen Badens und Untertauchens und sogar des Ablegens des Leibes dort—bewirkt wahrhaft die wunderbare Vernichtung der Sünde bis an ihre Wurzel.

Word by Word

• tīrtha-antarāṇi: other tīrthas (other pilgrimage places)
• tīrtha-antarāṇi: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक) + antara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (तीर्थानाम् अन्तराणि = other sacred places)

• kaluṣāṇi: impurities, sins
• kaluṣāṇi: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kaluṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), बहुवचन

• harati: removes
• harati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: hṛ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• sadyaḥ: immediately
• sadyaḥ: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadyaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• śreyaḥ: welfare, highest good
• śreyaḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śreyas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

• dadati: gives
• dadati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dā (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• api: also, even
• api: Sambandha/Emphasis (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle)

• bahu: much, great
• bahu: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bahu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; विशेषण (of tridivam)

• tridivam: heaven (the three heavens)
• tridivam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक) + diva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (त्रयाणां दिवानां = heaven)

• nayanti: lead (one)
• nayanti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: nī (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• pāna-avaghāhana-vidhāna-tanu-prahāṇaiḥ: by (the acts of) drinking, bathing, prescribed rites, and relinquishing the body
• pāna-avaghāhana-vidhāna-tanu-prahāṇaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāna (प्रातिपदिक) + avaghāhana (प्रातिपदिक) + vidhāna (प्रातिपदिक) + tanu (प्रातिपदिक) + prahāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष-समास; करणवाचक (instrumental: by means of drinking, bathing, prescribed rites, and giving up the body)

• vārāṇasī: Vārāṇasī
• vārāṇasī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vārāṇasī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• tu: but, indeed
• tu: Discourse particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधान/विरोधार्थक निपात (contrastive particle)

• kurute: does, brings about
• kurute: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• bata: indeed!, alas!/surely
• bata: Discourse particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: bata (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विस्मय/खेदादि सूचक निपात (exclamatory particle)

• mūla-nāśam: root-destruction (complete eradication)
• mūla-nāśam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mūla (प्रातिपदिक) + nāśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (मूलस्य नाशः)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda instructing Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis in Naimiṣāraṇya (frame-tradition) / internal Kāśī-māhātmya audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A panoramic Kāśī riverfront: pilgrims sipping Ganga water, others immersed in snāna, and in the background a serene deathbed scene within the kṣetra attended by priests—symbolizing ‘pāna–avagāhana–tanu-tyāga’ as three gates to root-level purification.

Characters & Entities

• Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)
• Tridiva (Svarga/Heaven)
• Tīrtha (sacred ford)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

While many tīrthas grant quick purification and heavenly merit, Kāśī is praised as uniquely capable of eradicating sin at its very root, pointing to liberation-oriented merit beyond mere svarga.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) is explicitly glorified as surpassing other tīrthas in its māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Pāna (drinking sacred water) and avagāhana (ritual immersion/bathing) are mentioned, along with tanu-prahāṇa—relinquishing the body in Kāśī—presented as especially potent acts within the Kāśī-mahātmya.