Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 30

Devanagari script

प्रदक्षिणं परीत्याग्निमुपस्थाय दिवाकरम् । दंडाजिनोपवीताढ्यश्चरेद्भैक्ष्यं यथोदितम्

Transliteration

pradakṣiṇaṃ parītyāgnimupasthāya divākaram | daṃḍājinopavītāḍhyaścaredbhaikṣyaṃ yathoditam

Translation

Nachdem er das heilige Feuer in glückverheißender Richtung umrundet und der Sonne Verehrung erwiesen hat, soll der Brahmacārī—ausgestattet mit Stab, Fellgewand und Upavīta—hinausgehen, um Almosen zu erbitten, wie geboten.

Word by Word

• प्रदक्षिणम्: clockwise (keeping to the right)
• प्रदक्षिणम्: Adverbial (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्रदक्षिण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb) ‘clockwise/rightward’

• परीत्य: having circumambulated
• परीत्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: परि-√इ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (gerund/absolutive) ‘having gone around’

• अग्निम्: fire
• अग्निम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• उपस्थाय: having approached
• उपस्थाय: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उप-√स्था (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (gerund) ‘having approached/attended’

• दिवाकरम्: the Sun
• दिवाकरम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिवाकर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• दण्डाजिनोपवीताढ्यः: endowed with staff, deer-skin, and sacred thread
• दण्डाजिनोपवीताढ्यः: Visheshana (Adjective of implied subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दण्ड (प्रातिपदिक) + अजिन (प्रातिपदिक) + उपवीत (प्रातिपदिक) + आढ्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः: दण्डेन अजिनेन उपवीतेन च आढ्यः/युक्तः (‘endowed with staff, skin, and sacred thread’)

• चरेत्: should practice/should go about
• चरेत्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √चर् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• भैक्ष्यम्: alms-begging (alms)
• भैक्ष्यम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भैक्ष्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• यथा: as
• यथा: Adverbial (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अव्यय-सम्बन्ध (comparative/‘as’)

• उदितम्: stated/said
• उदितम्: Adverbial qualifier (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उदित (कृदन्त; √वद्/√उद्? here ‘said’ from √वद् with ud- prefix as ‘udita’ = ‘stated’)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त) used adverbially with यथा (‘as stated’)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Dharma-oriented hearers (students/householders/pilgrims)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: At dawn, a brahmacārī circumambulates a small sacred fire altar, then faces the rising sun over the Gaṅgā, hands in añjali; he carries a staff, wears ajina and upavīta, and steps toward the lanes of Kāśī for bhikṣā.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Agastya
• Sūrya (Divākara)
• Agni
• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Daily life is sacralized: worship precedes livelihood, and humility (bhikṣā) is framed as disciplined dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī provides the puranic setting where such daily rites are taught as part of living in a sacred geography.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Circumambulate Agni, worship the Sun, then seek alms while bearing staff, ajina, and upavīta.