Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 34

Devanagari script

याज्ञवल्क्यो मुनिवरः प्रोक्तवान्मुनिसंसदि । रवेरधीत्य निगमान्काश्यामंते परं पदम्

Transliteration

yājñavalkyo munivaraḥ proktavānmunisaṃsadi | raveradhītya nigamānkāśyāmaṃte paraṃ padam

Translation

Yājñavalkya, der Beste der Weisen, sprach in der Versammlung der ṛṣi: „Wer die Veden von Ravi erlernt, erreicht am Ende in Kāśī den höchsten Stand.“

Word by Word

• yājñavalkyaḥ: Yājñavalkya
• yājñavalkyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yājñavalkya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• muni-varaḥ: the best of sages
• muni-varaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muni (प्रातिपदिक) + vara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (‘श्रेष्ठः मुनिः’)

• proktavān: spoke / has spoken
• proktavān: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra + vac (धातु) → prokta (कृदन्त) + vat (प्रत्यय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; क्तवत्-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (perfect participle used as finite sense): ‘has spoken’

• muni-saṃsadi: in the assembly of sages
• muni-saṃsadi: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muni (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃsad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘munīnām saṃsadi’)

• raveḥ: of the Sun
• raveḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ravi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6), एकवचन

• adhītya: having studied
• adhītya: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adhi + i (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund), ‘having studied’

• nigamān: the Vedas / scriptures
• nigamān: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nigama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), बहुवचन

• kāśyām: in Kāśī
• kāśyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन

• ante: at the end
• ante: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; ‘at the end’ (अन्ते)

• param: supreme
• param: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; विशेषण

• padam: state / abode
• padam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pada (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: In a sage-assembly (muni-saṃsad), Yājñavalkya speaks with composed authority; behind the scene, Sūrya is suggested as the source of Vedic radiance, while Kāśī appears as the destined final abode—temple spires and the Ganga at dusk.

Characters & Entities

• Yājñavalkya
• Ravi (Sūrya)
• Nigama (Veda)
• Kāśī
• Paramapada

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even the highest Vedic learning culminates in liberation, with Kāśī praised as the blessed place of final attainment.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), as the place where the ‘end’ (ante) becomes the gateway to paramapada.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual is prescribed; it references adhyayana (study) of the Vedas and the salvific end in Kāśī.