Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 58

Devanagari script

अपि योगं हि युंजाना योगिनो यतमानसाः । नैकेनजन्मना मुक्ताः काश्यां मुक्ता वपुर्व्ययात्

Transliteration

api yogaṃ hi yuṃjānā yogino yatamānasāḥ | naikenajanmanā muktāḥ kāśyāṃ muktā vapurvyayāt

Translation

Selbst Yogins, die Yoga mit gezügeltem Geist üben, werden nicht in nur einem Leben frei; doch in Kāśī werden sie durch das bloße Vergehen des Leibes befreit.

Word by Word

• api: even
• api: Sambandha-bodhaka (Concessive/Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, अपि-शब्दः (even/also)

• yogam: yoga
• yogam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yoga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• hi: indeed
• hi: Hetu/Emphasis
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, हेत्वर्थक/निश्चयार्थक निपात (for/indeed)

• yuñjānāḥ: practising (yoga)
• yuñjānāḥ: Karta (Agent, participial)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √yuj (धातु)
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), परस्मैपद, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘युञ्जन्तः’ (practising/engaging)

• yoginaḥ: yogins
• yoginaḥ: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yogin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), बहुवचन

• yata-mānasāḥ: with restrained minds
• yata-mānasāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier of yoginaḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yata (कृदन्त, √yam) + mānasa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मधारयः—‘यतं मानसं येषाम्’ (whose minds are restrained)

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, निषेध

• ekena-janmanā: in a single birth
• ekena-janmanā: Karaṇa/Avadhi (Means/limit)
• Type: Noun
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + janman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—‘एकं जन्म’ (in/with one birth)

• muktāḥ: liberated
• muktāḥ: Karta (Predicate adjective of yoginaḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mukta (कृदन्त, √muc)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘freed/liberated’

• kāśyām: in Kāśī
• kāśyām: Adhikaraṇa (Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• muktāḥ: (are) liberated
• muktāḥ: Karta (Predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mukta (कृदन्त, √muc)
• Form: क्त, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; पुनरुक्ति—निश्चयार्थ (certainly liberated)

• vapuḥ: the body
• vapuḥ: Karta (Subject of vyayāt)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vapus (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन

• vyayāt: perishes
• vyayāt: Kriyā (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vi-√i / √vyai (धातु)
• Form: लुङ् (aorist), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; ‘perished/was spent away’

Speaker

Narrative voice within the chapter (contextually Viṣṇu’s discourse)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Sages / devotee audience seeking assurance of mokṣa

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A yogin in deep meditation under a tree contrasted with Kāśī’s ghāṭ where liberation dawns at death; subtle depiction of Śiva’s protective aura over the city, indicating grace surpassing even intense yogic striving.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• yogin

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The verse magnifies Kāśī’s grace: even advanced disciplines may take many lives, while Kāśī is said to grant liberation at death.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), explicitly named as the place where liberation is gained.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Yoga is mentioned as a spiritual discipline, but the verse’s emphasis is comparative rather than prescriptive.