Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 76

Devanagari script

दमनस्थैर्यमगमद्योगेनेव महात्मनः । न दिवा बाधयांचक्रे क्षुत्तृण्निद्रा क्षपा सुताम्

Transliteration

damanasthairyamagamadyogeneva mahātmanaḥ | na divā bādhayāṃcakre kṣuttṛṇnidrā kṣapā sutām

Translation

Sie erlangte die Festigkeit der Selbstzucht, als wäre es durch das Yoga einer großen Seele. Am Tage bedrängten Hunger, Durst und Schlaf jene Tochter der Kṣapā nicht.

Word by Word

• damana-sthairyam: steadiness of self-control
• damana-sthairyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: damana + sthairya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया एकवचनम् (neut. accusative singular)

• agamat: attained; reached
• agamat: Kriyā (Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √gam (धातु)
• Form: लुङ् (aorist); प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचनम् (3rd person singular)

• yogena: by yoga
• yogena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yoga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया एकवचनम् (masc. instrumental singular)

• eva: indeed; alone
• eva: Sambandha (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; अवधारणार्थक (emphatic particle)

• mahātmanaḥ: of the great-souled one
• mahātmanaḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी एकवचनम् (masc. genitive singular)

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्ययम् (negation particle)

• divā: by day
• divā: Sambandha (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: divā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्ययम् (temporal adverb: by day)

• bādhayām: affliction; disturbance
• bādhayām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bādhā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया एकवचनम् (fem. accusative singular) — ‘bādhām’ (object)

• cakre: did; caused
• cakre: Kriyā (Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect); प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचनम् (3rd person singular); आत्मनेपदम्

• kṣut-tṛṭ-nidrāḥ: hunger, thirst, and sleep
• kṣut-tṛṭ-nidrāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣut (प्रातिपदिक) + tṛṭ (प्रातिपदिक) + nidrā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा बहुवचनम् (fem. nominative plural) — समाहार-द्वन्द्व/इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वार्थे (hunger, thirst, sleep)

• kṣapā: night
• kṣapā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣapā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा एकवचनम् (fem. nominative singular)

• sutām: the daughter
• sutām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sutā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया एकवचनम् (fem. accusative singular)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The devotee remains unshaken through the day—sitting in steady posture near a liṅga, sunlight slanting in—while symbolic figures of hunger, thirst, and sleep fade away powerless.

Characters & Entities

• Kṣapā (as mother/epithet)
• Oṃkāra-liṅga (implied devotional cause)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

True devotion produces yogic steadiness and self-mastery, reducing the tyranny of bodily urges.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the broader sacred context; the practice is tied to Oṃkāra-liṅga-centered worship in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicit vrata/tapas: cultivation of dama (restraint) and sustained worship leading to yogic stability.