Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

इत्यगस्त्युदितं श्रुत्वा महादेवतनूद्भवः । कथयामास या यत्र स्थिताऽनंदवने मुदा

Transliteration

ityagastyuditaṃ śrutvā mahādevatanūdbhavaḥ | kathayāmāsa yā yatra sthitā'naṃdavane mudā

Translation

Als er so die Worte Agastyas vernommen hatte, begann der aus Mahādevas eigenem Leib Geborene voller Freude zu berichten, welche Gottheit wo im Ānandavana weilt.

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• इति: Vakyopasamhara (वाक्योपसंहार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: उक्तिसूचक अव्यय (quotative particle)

• अगस्त्य-उदितम्: (words) spoken by Agastya
• अगस्त्य-उदितम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अगस्त्य-उदित (प्रातिपदिक; अगस्त्येन उदितम्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; तृतीया/षष्ठ्यर्थ-तत्पुरुष—"by Agastya spoken"; विशेषणम् (श्रुत्वा इत्यस्य कर्म)

• श्रुत्वा: having heard
• श्रुत्वा: Kriya (पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभाव; पूर्वक्रिया

• महादेव-तनू-उद्भवः: one born from Mahādeva’s body
• महादेव-तनू-उद्भवः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महादेव-तनू-उद्भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष—"महादेवस्य तनूः तस्याः उद्भवः"

• कथयामास: narrated, told
• कथयामास: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कथय् (धातु; कथ् + णिच्)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• याः: which (goddesses)
• याः: Karma (कर्म/विषय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धबोधक (relative)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Desha-adhikarana (देशाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक अव्यय (where)

• स्थिताः: are situated
• स्थिताः: Kriya (क्रिया/अवस्था)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; "याः" इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• आनन्दवने: in the grove of bliss (Ānandavana)
• आनन्दवने: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आनन्द-वन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष/कर्मधारयार्थ—"आनन्दस्य वनम्"

• मुदा: with joy
• मुदा: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुदा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; भावे—"with joy"

Speaker

Narrator (contextual), introducing Skanda’s reply

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Ānandavana (within Avimukta, Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Agastya

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The speaker—born from Mahādeva’s own body—begins, with delight, to narrate the placements of deities across Ānandavana; sages listen in a luminous forest with hints of liṅgas and ghāṭas beyond.

Characters & Entities

• Agastya
• Mahādeva (Śiva)
• Skanda
• Ānandavana

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is a consciously ordered sacred realm; learning its divine geography is itself a devotional act.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Ānandavana, the famed sacred grove within the Kāśī landscape, is explicitly mentioned.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; this verse transitions into Skanda’s descriptive teaching.