Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

आपद्यपि हि ये धीरा इह लोके परत्र च । न तान्पुनः स्पृशेदापत्तद्धैर्येणावधीरिता

Transliteration

āpadyapi hi ye dhīrā iha loke paratra ca | na tānpunaḥ spṛśedāpattaddhairyeṇāvadhīritā

Translation

Wahrlich, die Standhaften, die in der Not gefasst bleiben — in dieser Welt wie in der jenseitigen — werden vom Unheil nicht wieder berührt; denn durch ihren Mut wird die Bedrängnis entmachtet.

Word by Word

• āpadi: in adversity
• āpadi: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āpada (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; locative of circumstance (in calamity)

• api: even/although
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), concessive ‘even/although’

• hi: indeed/for
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic/causal particle)

• ye: who
• ye: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; relative pronoun

• dhīrāḥ: the steadfast/wise
• dhīrāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhīra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; substantive ‘the steadfast’

• iha: here
• iha: Adhikaraṇa (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक (adverb of place)

• loke: in the world
• loke: Adhikaraṇa (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; ‘in the world’

• paratra: hereafter/in the next world
• paratra: Adhikaraṇa (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: paratra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देश/कालवाचक (adverb) ‘in the other world/thereafter’

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध (negation particle)

• tān: them
• tān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन; demonstrative pronoun

• punaḥ: again
• punaḥ: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: punaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, पुनरावृत्तिवाचक (adverb)

• spṛśet: would touch/afflict
• spṛśet: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: spṛś (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• āpattat: calamity (misfortune)
• āpattat: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āpat (धातु)
• Form: कृत्-प्रत्यय: क्त (past passive participle) ‘āpanna/āpatt-’ used as feminine noun ‘āpatti’; here as subject of spṛśet: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (understood)

• dhairyeṇa: by courage/steadfastness
• dhairyeṇa: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhairya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन; instrumental ‘by steadfastness’

• avadhīritā: having been disregarded/overcome
• avadhīritā: Kriya (Predicate participle/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ava-dhīr (धातु)
• Form: कृत्-प्रत्यय: क्त (past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; agrees with āpatti (understood): ‘having been disregarded’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśī Khaṇḍa narration typically Skanda → Agastya)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A calm, radiant sādhaka/pilgrim stands unshaken amid storm-like adversity; calamities appear as fading shadows repelled by a halo of courage and Śiva-smaraṇa.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Steadfast courage (dhairya) makes adversity ineffective; inner composure is itself a form of victory.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is within the Kāśī Khaṇḍa framework, implicitly grounded in Kāśī’s dharmic teaching context, though no single tīrtha is named in this line.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual (snāna, dāna, japa) is prescribed here; it is an ethical-philosophical instruction.