Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 54

Devanagari script

तेपि स्वनाम्ना लिंगानि शंभुसंतुष्टि काम्यया । प्रतिष्ठाप्य स्थिताः काश्यां विश्वनिर्वाणजन्मनि

Transliteration

tepi svanāmnā liṃgāni śaṃbhusaṃtuṣṭi kāmyayā | pratiṣṭhāpya sthitāḥ kāśyāṃ viśvanirvāṇajanmani

Translation

Auch sie, in dem Wunsch, Śambhu zu erfreuen, errichteten Liṅgas in ihren eigenen Namen und verweilten in Kāśī, dem Geburtsort der Erlösung für die Welt.

Word by Word

• te: they
• te: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• api: also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अपि-समुच्चय/अतिशयार्थक-अव्यय (also/even)

• sva-nāmnā: by their own name
• sva-nāmnā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva (प्रातिपदिक) + nāman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), एकवचन; समासः (तत्पुरुष) ‘स्वस्य नाम्ना’

• liṅgāni: liṅgas (Śiva-emblems)
• liṅgāni: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: liṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• śaṃbhu-saṃtuṣṭi: (for) Śambhu’s satisfaction
• śaṃbhu-saṃtuṣṭi: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaṃbhu (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃtuṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी/तृतीया-समर्थ (अर्थतः हेतु/प्रयोजन), एकवचन; समासः (तत्पुरुष) ‘शम्भोः सन्तुष्टिः’

• kāmyayā: with the desire; for the sake of wishing
• kāmyayā: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण/हेतु), एकवचन

• pratiṣṭhāpya: having installed
• pratiṣṭhāpya: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √sthā (धातु) उपसर्ग-प्रति; causative pratiṣṭhāpayati
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (absolutive/gerund), causative sense

• sthitāḥ: remained; stayed
• sthitāḥ: Kriya (State/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sthita (कृदन्त; √sthā)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कृदन्त-भूतकृदन्त (क्त) (used predicatively)

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

• viśva-nirvāṇa-janmani: in the place/birth that is the liberation of the world
• viśva-nirvāṇa-janmani: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśva (प्रातिपदिक) + nirvāṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + janman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन; समासः (तत्पुरुष) ‘विश्वस्य निर्वाणं (मोक्षः) यस्मिन् जन्मनि/स्थाने’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration-context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The gaṇas perform liṅga-pratiṣṭhā: digging a sanctified pit, placing a liṅga, offering flowers and water, with Śiva’s unseen approval implied; Kāśī’s skyline frames the act.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Śambhu (Śiva)
• liṅga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotion expresses itself through consecration of Śiva-liṅgas, and Kāśī is praised as a universal ground of mokṣa.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is extolled as “viśvanirvāṇajanmanī,” a supreme liberation-giving sacred place.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Liṅga-pratiṣṭhā (installation/consecration of a Śiva-liṅga) motivated by the wish to please Śambhu.