Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 83

Devanagari script

भर्ज्यते कर्मबीजानि यत्र विश्वेशवह्निना । अतो महाश्मशानं तदगतीनां परा गतिः

Transliteration

bharjyate karmabījāni yatra viśveśavahninā | ato mahāśmaśānaṃ tadagatīnāṃ parā gatiḥ

Translation

Dort werden durch das Feuer Viśveśas die eigentlichen Samen des Karma geröstet und verzehrt; darum heißt jener Ort das Große Verbrennungsfeld (Mahāśmaśāna), die höchste Zuflucht für die, die keine andere Zuflucht haben.

Word by Word

• भर्ज्यते: is roasted/burnt
• भर्ज्यते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भर्ज् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive)

• कर्मबीजानि: seeds of karma
• कर्मबीजानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्म-बीज (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), बहुवचन; कर्म (object in passive; logical object)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय-सम्बन्धबोधक (relative adverb of place)

• विश्वेशवह्निना: by the fire of Viśveśa
• विश्वेशवह्निना: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विश्वेश-वह्नि (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन; करण (instrument)

• अतः: therefore
• अतः: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अतः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (causal/consequential adverb: ‘therefore/from this’)

• महाश्मशानम्: the great cremation-ground
• महाश्मशानम्: Karta (Subject complement/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा-श्मशान (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विधेय (predicate nominative)

• तत्: that (place)
• तत्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; निर्देश (demonstrative)

• अगतीनाम्: of those without refuge/way
• अगतीनाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अ-गति (प्रातिपदिक; नञ्-समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध (genitive: of the helpless)

• परा: supreme
• परा: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying ‘गतिḥ’)

• गतिः: refuge, goal
• गतिः: Karta (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्तृ/विधेय (predicate)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mahāśmaśāna (Kāśī-Avimukta)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A night-lit Kāśī cremation ground by the Ganga: funeral pyres glow, yet above them a calm, transcendent radiance of Viśveśa ‘fire’ symbolically burning karmic seeds; seekers surrender with folded hands, fear dissolving into peace.

Characters & Entities

• Viśveśa
• Mahāśmaśāna
• Kāśī
• Avimukta

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is portrayed as a uniquely liberating field where Śiva’s power destroys karmic causality at its root, making mokṣa accessible.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Mahāśmaśāna in Kāśī (the sacred cremation geography of Avimukta-kṣetra, traditionally linked with Kāśī’s cremation-ghāṭas).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific ritual is stated; the verse emphasizes the metaphysical effect of the kṣetra—karmic seeds are destroyed by Viśveśa’s ‘fire’.