Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 100

Devanagari script

इति ते कथितो ब्रह्मन्महिमातिमहत्तरः । दशाश्वमेधतीर्थस्य सर्वाघौघविनाशनः

Transliteration

iti te kathito brahmanmahimātimahattaraḥ | daśāśvamedhatīrthasya sarvāghaughavināśanaḥ

Translation

So, o Brāhmane, habe ich dir die überaus große Herrlichkeit des Daśāśvamedha-Tīrtha verkündet, der die Fluten aller Sünden vernichtet.

Word by Word

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Discourse marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उद्धरण/समाप्तिसूचक

• te: to you
• te: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया/चतुर्थी (2nd/4th), एकवचन; सर्वनाम; ‘to you/for you’ (contextual)

• kathitaḥ: told/related
• kathitaḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kath (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; ‘told/related’ (agreeing with mahimā)

• brahman: O brāhmaṇa
• brahman: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• mahimā: the greatness
• mahimā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahimā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• ati-mahattaraḥ: exceedingly greater
• ati-mahattaraḥ: Karta (Adjectival/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ati (अव्यय/उपसर्ग) + mahattara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्मधारय/उपपद-समास (ati + mahattaraḥ) विशेषण (qualifying mahimā)

• daśa-aśvamedha-tīrthasya: of the Daśāśvamedha-tīrtha
• daśa-aśvamedha-tīrthasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: daśa (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + aśvamedha (प्रातिपदिक) + tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (daśa aśvamedhāḥ) + तत्पुरुष (tīrtha)

• sarva-agha-ogha-vināśanaḥ: destroyer of all masses of sins
• sarva-agha-ogha-vināśanaḥ: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + agha (प्रातिपदिक) + ogha (प्रातिपदik) + vināśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष; विशेषण (qualifying mahimā/तīrtha implied): ‘destroyer of the flood of all sins’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogues commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Daśāśvamedha Tīrtha

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Addressed ‘brāhman’ (the listening sage/interlocutor)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sweeping view of Daśāśvamedha ghāṭa on the Gaṅgā; pilgrims bathe at dawn, priests perform rites, and the air suggests the ‘washing away’ of sin like dark mist dissolving into sunlight.

Characters & Entities

• Daśāśvamedha Tīrtha
• Kāśī (context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred places in Kāśī are presented as potent instruments of purification, capable of destroying accumulated sin.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Daśāśvamedha Tīrtha in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific rite is stated in this verse; it functions as a summary of the tīrtha’s purificatory merit.