Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 64

Devanagari script

ज्ञानं मे जनयामास भवांतर समुद्भवम् । अथ तासां पुरो हृष्टा कथयामास सुंदरी

Transliteration

jñānaṃ me janayāmāsa bhavāṃtara samudbhavam | atha tāsāṃ puro hṛṣṭā kathayāmāsa suṃdarī

Translation

„Sie hat in mir ein Wissen hervorgebracht, das aus einem anderen Leben stammt.“ Dann begann die schöne Frau, voller Freude, es in Gegenwart jener Dienerinnen zu berichten.

Word by Word

• ज्ञानम्: knowledge
• ज्ञानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ज्ञान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; कर्म

• मे: of me / to me
• मे: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध (possessor)

• जनयामास: generated/produced
• जनयामास: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √जन् (धातु) (णिच् causative: जनय-)
• Form: लिट् (परफेक्ट), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद; ‘caused to arise/produced’

• भव-अन्तर-समुद्भवम्: arisen from another existence (past-life-born)
• भव-अन्तर-समुद्भवम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भव (प्रातिपदिक) + अन्तर (प्रातिपदिक) + समुद्भव (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक; सम्+उद्+√भू (धातु))
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; विशेषण—‘ज्ञानम्’

• अथ: then
• अथ: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अनन्तर/आरम्भ-वाचक अव्यय (then/now)

• तासाम्: of them
• तासाम्: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध (of them)

• पुरः: in front (of)
• पुरः: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुरः (अव्यय)
• Form: देश-वाचक अव्यय (adverb: in front)

• हृष्टा: delighted
• हृष्टा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हृष्ट (कृदन्त; √हृष् (धातु))
• Form: क्त (past participle used adjectivally), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण—‘सुंदरी’

• कथयामास: narrated/told
• कथयामास: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √कथ् (धातु) (णिच् causative: कथय-)
• Form: लिट् (परफेक्ट), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद; ‘told/narrated’

• सुंदरी: the beautiful woman
• सुंदरी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुंदरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्ता

Speaker

Kalāvatī (implied by first-person statement), within Skanda’s narration

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Jñānavāpī

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and sages (typical frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Kalāvatī, delighted, turns to her attendants and begins recounting the past-life knowledge awakened within her, the painted well visible nearby.

Characters & Entities

• Kalāvatī
• Jñānavāpī (contextual)
• Kāśī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Spiritual insight becomes meaningful when it turns into truthful testimony and self-understanding rooted in sacred experience.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Jñānavāpī in Kāśī is the source of the past-life knowledge being described.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the verse foregrounds the result (jñāna) and the sharing of dharmic narrative.