Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 88

Devanagari script

अनन्यपूर्वसंस्पर्श सुखं समनुभूय सा । तमेव च पतिं मत्वा चक्रे शोकाग्निसात्तनुम्

Transliteration

ananyapūrvasaṃsparśa sukhaṃ samanubhūya sā | tameva ca patiṃ matvā cakre śokāgnisāttanum

Translation

Nachdem sie die Wonne einer nie zuvor gekannten Berührung erfahren hatte, hielt sie ihn allein für ihren Gemahl — und brachte ihren Leib dem Feuer der Trauer als Opfer dar.

Word by Word

• अनन्यपूर्वसंस्पर्श: of unprecedented/unique prior contact
• अनन्यपूर्वसंस्पर्श: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनन्य (प्रातिपदिक) + पूर्व (प्रातिपदिक) + संस्पर्श (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; विशेषण (सुखम् इति पदस्य)

• सुखम्: happiness/pleasure
• सुखम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

• समनुभूय: having experienced
• समनुभूय: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्+अनु+√भू (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (अव्ययकृदन्त/gerund), 'having experienced'

• सा: she
• सा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• तम्: him
• तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• एव: indeed, only
• एव: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• पतिम्: husband
• पतिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

• मत्वा: having regarded (as)
• मत्वा: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √मन् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (अव्ययकृदन्त/gerund), 'having considered/knowing'

• चक्रे: did/made
• चक्रे: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √कृ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• शोकाग्निसात्: into the fire of grief (as consumption)
• शोकाग्निसात्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: शोक (प्रातिपदिक) + अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक) + सात् (अव्यय/निपात; 'into')
• Form: अव्ययीभावसमास; क्रियाविशेषणार्थे (to the state of being consumed by the fire of grief)

• तनुम्: body
• तनुम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तनु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly framed as Skanda speaking to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A woman, having known an unprecedented touch and believing him her sole husband, is consumed by the ‘fire of grief’—shown as a symbolic flame enveloping her as she offers her body; the battlefield fades into a cremation-like stillness.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Mistaken identification and attachment can consume one’s life; the Purāṇic vision redirects love toward the eternal (Śiva in Kāśī) rather than the transient.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī setting is implied, but no specific tīrtha is mentioned in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; it narrates self-destruction through grief rather than prescribing a rite.