Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 49

Devanagari script

कलिकल्मषबुद्धीनां नाख्येयानि कदाचन । एतान्याराधयेद्यस्तु लिंगानीह चतुर्दश

Transliteration

kalikalmaṣabuddhīnāṃ nākhyeyāni kadācana | etānyārādhayedyastu liṃgānīha caturdaśa

Translation

Für Geister, die von den Makeln des Kali befleckt sind, soll dies niemals verkündet werden. Wer jedoch hier diese vierzehn Liṅgas verehrt… (wird ihres Segens würdig).

Word by Word

• कलि-कल्मष-बुद्धीनाम्: of those whose minds are tainted by Kali’s impurity
• कलि-कल्मष-बुद्धीनाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कलि (प्रातिपदिक) + कल्मष (प्रातिपदिक) + बुद्धि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष: ‘कलिकल्मषा बुद्धिः’ → ‘कलिकल्मषबुद्धि’; तस्य षष्ठी बहुवचन), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात (negation particle)

• आख्येयानि: to be told/declared
• आख्येयानि: Visheshana (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √ख्या (धातु) + अनीयर्/यत् (कृदन्त; potential passive)
• Form: कृदन्त (भाव्य/विधेय: ‘आख्यातुं योग्य’), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• कदाचन: ever, at any time
• कदाचन: Adhikarana (Temporal/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कदाचन (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (at any time/ever)

• एतानि: these
• एतानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन

• आराधयेत्: should worship
• आराधयेत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √राध् (धातु) + आ (उपसर्ग)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

• यः: who (he who)
• यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: विरोध/अवधारण-निपात (but/indeed)

• लिङ्गानि: liṅgas
• लिङ्गानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• इह: here
• इह: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (here)

• चतुर्दश: fourteen
• चतुर्दश: Visheshana (Numeral qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्दशन् (संख्याप्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्यावाचक, द्वितीया (2nd) बहुवचनार्थे अव्ययवत् प्रयोग; ‘चतुर्दश-सङ्ख्यानि’

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Caturdaśa Mahāliṅga rahasya (Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Implied interlocutor within Kāśī-māhātmya dialogue

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A teacher-priest gestures gently to a devoted pilgrim, indicating discretion, while the fourteen liṅgas are shown as veiled or softly obscured for the unprepared; the sincere worshipper’s path is illuminated.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Kali-yuga
• Kāśī (implied)
• Fourteen Mahāliṅgas

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred knowledge is safeguarded from misuse; devotion and purity qualify one for the kṣetra’s blessings.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī’s network of fourteen mahāliṅgas is upheld as a guarded, highly potent sacred heritage.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Ārādhana (worship) of the fourteen liṅgas ‘here’ in the kṣetra is the implied practice.