Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 130

Devanagari script

महाश्मशानमासाद्य यदि देवाद्विपद्यते । पुनः श्मशानशयनं न क्वापि लभते पुमान्

Transliteration

mahāśmaśānamāsādya yadi devādvipadyate | punaḥ śmaśānaśayanaṃ na kvāpi labhate pumān

Translation

Hat ein Mensch den Großen Verbrennungsplatz erreicht und scheidet (stirbt) er nach Gottes Willen, so erlangt er nirgends mehr das „Liegen auf dem Verbrennungsplatz“—das heißt, er kehrt nicht zu einem solchen Tod zurück.

Word by Word

• महाश्मशानम्: the great cremation-ground
• महाश्मशानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + श्मशान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय (महच्च तत् श्मशानम्)

• आसाद्य: having reached
• आसाद्य: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-√सद् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभाव; पूर्वकालिक क्रिया (having reached)

• यदि: if
• यदि: Avyaya (Particle/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्धबोधक-अव्यय (conditional conjunction: if)

• देवात्: from the god (Śiva)
• देवात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन

• विपद्यते: falls away, deviates
• विपद्यते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-√पद् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• पुनः: again
• पुनः: Avyaya (Particle/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: again)

• श्मशान-शयनम्: lying in the cremation-ground
• श्मशान-शयनम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्मशान (प्रातिपदिक) + शयन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (श्मशाने शयनम्/श्मशानस्य शयनम्)

• न: not
• न: Avyaya (Particle/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध (negation particle)

• क्वापि: anywhere
• क्वापि: Desha (Location/देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्व (अव्यय) + अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: स्थानवाचक-अव्यय (indefinite locative adverb: anywhere)

• लभते: obtains
• लभते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लभ् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• पुमान्: a man
• पुमान्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुमांस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; पुमांस्-शब्द

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mahāśmaśāna (Kāśī)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (contextual)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Night at the cremation ghāṭ: funeral pyres blaze; a departing soul is shown rising toward a calm, luminous Śiva-presence, suggesting release rather than fear.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Mahāśmaśāna

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Death in Kāśī’s Mahāśmaśāna is portrayed as spiritually decisive, preventing a return to repeated mortal fate.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Mahāśmaśāna in Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), a famed cremation-ground associated with Śiva’s liberating grace.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is prescribed; the verse emphasizes the salvific significance of reaching Mahāśmaśāna at life’s end.