Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 20

Devanagari script

स्वयं सिंचति या मद्भिः स्वाभिः स्वर्गतरंगिणी । यत्रानंदमया वृक्षा यत्रानंदमया जनाः

Transliteration

svayaṃ siṃcati yā madbhiḥ svābhiḥ svargataraṃgiṇī | yatrānaṃdamayā vṛkṣā yatrānaṃdamayā janāḥ

Translation

Dort bewässert der himmlisch strömende Fluss, mit seinen eigenen Nebelwolken, das Land aus sich selbst; dort sind die Bäume aus Seligkeit gemacht, und dort sind auch die Menschen aus Seligkeit gemacht.

Word by Word

• svayam: by oneself
• svayam: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svayam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण/adverb)

• siṃcati: sprinkles, waters
• siṃcati: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sic (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular)

• yā: which (she)
• yā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन (singular)

• madbhiḥ: with/by me (my waters)
• madbhiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (m./n. pronoun), तृतीया (3rd case), बहुवचन (plural)

• svābhiḥ: with her own
• svābhiḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sva (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), तृतीया (3rd case), बहुवचन (plural); विशेषण (qualifying)

• svarga-taraṃgiṇī: the heaven-streaming river (Ganges)
• svarga-taraṃgiṇī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarga (प्रातिपदिक) + taraṃgiṇī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन (singular)

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक/locative adverb)

• ānaṃda-mayāḥ: made of bliss, blissful
• ānaṃda-mayāḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ānanda (प्रातिपदिक) + maya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन (plural); विशेषण

• vṛkṣāḥ: trees
• vṛkṣāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛkṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन (plural)

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक/locative adverb)

• ānaṃda-mayāḥ: blissful
• ānaṃda-mayāḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ānanda (प्रातिपदिक) + maya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन (plural); विशेषण

• janāḥ: people
• janāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन (plural)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa context: Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Ānandavana/Avimukta) with Gaṅgā

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A luminous Gaṅgā in Kāśī, veiled in self-born mist-clouds that water the ghāṭs and gardens; trees radiate ānanda as if made of light; the whole kṣetra appears heaven-descended.

Characters & Entities

• Ānandavāṭikā (implied)
• Kāśī (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is depicted as intrinsically blissful—nature and inhabitants reflect a divine, uplifted state.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The bliss-region associated with Ānandavāṭikā within Kāśī’s sacred landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual; it is a descriptive mahātmya of the sacred environment.