Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 83

Devanagari script

भवांबुधौ महागाधे प्राणिनः परिमज्जतः । भूत्वैव कर्णधारोंते यत्र संतारयाम्यहम्

Transliteration

bhavāṃbudhau mahāgādhe prāṇinaḥ parimajjataḥ | bhūtvaiva karṇadhāroṃte yatra saṃtārayāmyaham

Translation

Im weiten, unergründlich tiefen Ozean des weltlichen Werdens, wenn die Wesen versinken, dort—im letzten Augenblick—werde ich ihr Steuermann und setze sie hinüber.

Word by Word

• भव-अम्बुधौ: in the ocean of worldly existence
• भव-अम्बुधौ: अधिकरण (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भव (प्रातिपदिक) + अम्बुधि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (भवस्य अम्बुधौ)

• महागाधे: in the very deep (one)
• महागाधे: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महागाध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (अम्बुधौ इति)

• प्राणिनः: living beings
• प्राणिनः: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• परिमज्जतः: sinking, being submerged
• परिमज्जतः: क्रियाविशेषण/विशेषण (Participial qualifier)
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि+मज्ज् (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (Present active participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; प्राणिनः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• भूत्वा: having become
• भूत्वा: क्रियाविशेषण (Adverbial to main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive)

• एव: indeed, just
• एव: सम्बन्ध/निपात (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle/emphasis)

• कर्णधारः: helmsman, ferryman
• कर्णधारः: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्णधार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• ते: of you/your
• ते: सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन (enclitic)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: अधिकरण-सूचक (Locative indicator)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्धबोधक अव्यय (relative adverb: where)

• संतारयामि: I ferry across, I help cross
• संतारयामि: क्रिया (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्+तॄ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/लट्), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person/उत्तम), एकवचन; परस्मैपद; causative sense ‘to cause to cross’ (णिच्-प्रयोग)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (with implied Maṇikarṇikā/Antargṛha sphere)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Implied audience of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration (traditionally sages/devotees hearing the glory of Kāśī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A stormy ocean symbolizing saṃsāra; drowning beings reach out; Śiva appears as a compassionate boatman holding a rudder, guiding a small boat toward a luminous Kāśī shoreline with ghāṭas and a distant Viśvanātha spire.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (implied)
• Saṃsāra (bhava)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine guidance is promised at life’s end: the Lord becomes the helmsman to deliver the soul from saṃsāra.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse implies Kāśī as the place where this end-time deliverance is especially assured, though it is not named explicitly.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is stated; the focus is on grace at the ‘end’ (antakāla) and liberation.