Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

वित्रस्तपापां त्रिदशैर्दुरापां गंगां सदापां भवपाशशापाम् । शिवाविमुक्ताममृतैकशुक्तिं भुक्ताविमुक्तानपरित्यजन्ति

Transliteration

vitrastapāpāṃ tridaśairdurāpāṃ gaṃgāṃ sadāpāṃ bhavapāśaśāpām | śivāvimuktāmamṛtaikaśuktiṃ bhuktāvimuktānaparityajanti

Translation

Wer (ihre Gnade) gekostet hat, verlässt die Gaṅgā nicht—vor der die Sünden erzittern, die selbst den Göttern schwer erreichbar ist, stets lebenspendend, die die Schlinge weltlicher Bindung verflucht; genannt Śivāvimuktā, eine einzige Muschel voll Nektar—und er verlässt auch die ihr ergebenen Verehrer nicht.

Word by Word

• vitrasta-pāpām: (Gaṅgā) from whom sins are terrified/removed
• vitrasta-pāpām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vitrasta (त्रस् धातु, क्त) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण—‘पापं वित्रस्तं यस्याः सा’ (pāpa frightened away)

• tridaśaiḥ: by the gods
• tridaśaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tridaśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• durāpām: hard to attain
• durāpām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: durāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण

• gaṃgām: Gaṅgā
• gaṃgām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gaṅgā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• sadāpām: ever-flowing/ever-watery
• sadāpām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sadā (अव्यय) + āpa/āpaḥ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; अव्ययीभाव—‘सदा आपः यस्याः’ (ever-watery)

• bhava-pāśa-śāpām: (Gaṅgā) the curse (destroyer) of saṃsāra-bondage
• bhava-pāśa-śāpām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhava (प्रातिपदिक) + pāśa (प्रातिपदिक) + śāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—‘भवस्य पाशः’ इति, तस्य शापः (curse of the bondage of saṃsāra)

• śiva-avimuktām: not forsaken by Śiva
• śiva-avimuktām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śiva (प्रातिपदिक) + avimukta (मुच् धातु, क्त; नञ्)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण—‘शिवेन अविमुक्ता’ (not abandoned by Śiva)

• amṛta-eka-śuktim: the single shell containing nectar
• amṛta-eka-śuktim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: amṛta (प्रातिपदिक) + eka (प्रातिपदिक) + śukti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—‘अमृतस्य एकः शुक्तिः’ (single oyster/shell of nectar; metaphor)

• bhukta-avimuktān: those who have experienced (it) and do not let go
• bhukta-avimuktān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhukta (भुज् धातु, क्त) + avimukta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; ‘भुक्ताः (अनुभूताः) अविमुक्ताः’ इति—काशी/गङ्गा-सेविनः (those who have enjoyed and are not released/leave)

• na: not
• na: Nishedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय

• parityajanti: abandon, give up
• parityajanti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pari√tyaj (त्यज् धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन, परस्मैपद

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Śivāvimuktā in Kāśī)

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Gaṅgā as a radiant goddess-river; sins personified as dark figures recoiling; devas watching from the sky; a pearl-like oyster shell overflowing with nectar symbolizing ‘amṛta-eka-śukti’; devotees gathered, inseparable from her.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā
• Śiva
• Tridaśa (Devas)
• Avimukta (Kāśī epithet)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Gaṅgā and Kāśī’s Avimukta grace are portrayed as uniquely liberating; one who truly experiences them does not turn away from that refuge.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gaṅgā in Kāśī/Avimukta-kṣetra—Gaṅgā as ‘Śivāvimuktā’ (never abandoned by Śiva).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit instruction is stated, but the verse strongly implies continued devotion/association with Gaṅgā—classically expressed through snāna, japa, and tīrtha-sevā.