Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

एतत्ते पृच्छतः ख्यातं विनता दास्यकारणम् । मुने प्रसंगतो वच्मि अरुणादित्यसंभवम्

Transliteration

etatte pṛcchataḥ khyātaṃ vinatā dāsyakāraṇam | mune prasaṃgato vacmi aruṇādityasaṃbhavam

Translation

O Weiser, da du fragst, habe ich die weithin bekannte Ursache von Vinatās Knechtschaft dargelegt. Nun will ich der rechten Folge gemäß die Geschichte Aruṇas und das Erscheinen Aruṇādityas berichten.

Word by Word

• etat: this (matter)
• etat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (pronoun)

• te: of you / your
• te: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (युष्मद्-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive) एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• pṛcchataḥ: of (you) asking
• pṛcchataḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prach (धातु) → pṛcchat (वर्तमानकृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; शतृ-प्रत्यय (present active participle)

• khyātam: made known / explained
• khyātam: Kriya-visheshaṇa (Predicate complement/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: khyā (धातु) → khyāta (क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्यय (past passive participle)

• vinatā: Vinatā
• vinatā: Sambodhyā/Prastāva (Topic/प्रस्ताव)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vinatā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• dāsyakāraṇam: cause of (her) servitude
• dāsyakāraṇam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dāsya (प्रातिपदिक) + kāraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (dāsyasya kāraṇam)

• mune: O sage
• mune: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muni (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• prasaṃgataḥ: incidentally / in context
• prasaṃgataḥ: Kriya-visheshaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prasaṃga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; तसिल्-प्रत्यय (ablatival adverb) = ‘by occasion/incidentally’

• vacmi: I speak / I tell
• vacmi: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• aruṇādityasaṃbhavam: the origin of Aruṇa-Āditya
• aruṇādityasaṃbhavam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aruṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + āditya (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃbhava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (aruṇādityasya saṃbhavaḥ)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue style, Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Aruṇāditya (Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Muni (sage)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sage is addressed by the narrator; the story pivots from Vinatā’s servitude to the forthcoming account of Aruṇa and the arising of Aruṇāditya, with Kāśī implied as the sacred backdrop.

Characters & Entities

• Vinatā
• Aruṇa
• Āditya (Sūrya)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred narratives are taught in sequence to reveal how divine worship (here, Aruṇāditya) becomes established through dharmic causes and consequences.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The setting is the Kāśīkhaṇḍa tradition that culminates in Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) as the locus of Aruṇāditya’s glory.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual is prescribed in this verse; it introduces the forthcoming māhātmya (glorific account).