Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 24

Devanagari script

एकां गां यत्र दत्त्वा वै विधिवद्ब्राह्मणाय वै । लभेदयुत गोपुण्यं कस्तां काशीं त्यजेत्सुधीः

Transliteration

ekāṃ gāṃ yatra dattvā vai vidhivadbrāhmaṇāya vai | labhedayuta gopuṇyaṃ kastāṃ kāśīṃ tyajetsudhīḥ

Translation

Dort, wo man, indem man einem Brāhmaṇa nach Vorschrift eine einzige Kuh schenkt, das Verdienst von zehntausend Kühen erlangt—welcher Weise würde dieses heilige Kāśī verlassen?

Word by Word

• एकाम्: one (single)
• एकाम्: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• गाम्: cow
• गाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गो (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक)

• दत्त्वा: having given
• दत्त्वा: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (Absolutive/Gerund) — having given

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात) — emphasis/indeed

• विधिवत्: properly, as prescribed
• विधिवत्: Prakara (Manner/प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: विधि-वत् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) — “according to rule”

• ब्राह्मणाय: to a brāhmaṇa
• ब्राह्मणाय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/सम्प्रदान), एकवचन

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात)

• लभेत्: would obtain
• लभेत्: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लभ् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• अयुत: ten-thousandfold
• अयुत: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अयुत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा, एकवचन; संख्यावाचक — ‘ten thousand’ (as multiplier)

• गोपुण्यम्: merit of (donating) cows
• गोपुण्यम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गो-पुण्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• कः: who?
• कः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• ताम्: that (her)
• ताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• काशीम्: Kāśī
• काशीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• त्यजेत्: would abandon
• त्यजेत्: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• सुधीः: a wise man
• सुधीः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सु-धी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘सु’ + ‘धी’ = wise person

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration, commonly Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī—Go-dāna (vidhivat)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: On a Kāśī lane near a temple, a donor ceremonially gifts a decorated cow to a brāhmaṇa priest; the cow is garlanded, with a water-pot and kusa grass; behind, a symbolic vision of countless cows appears as a luminous multiplication of merit.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Go-dāna (cow gift)
• Brāhmaṇa
• Puṇya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Rightful charity in a supreme kṣetra multiplies merit; Kāśī magnifies dharmic giving into vast spiritual gain.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), celebrated as a place where dāna becomes extraordinarily efficacious.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Perform vidhivat go-dāna—gift one cow properly to a brāhmaṇa—said to grant merit equal to gifting ten thousand cows in Kāśī.