Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 55

Devanagari script

परदारेषुसंतुष्टः स्वदारेषु पराङ्मुखः । आनर्च जातुचिन्नैव देवौ दुःखांतकारिणौ

Transliteration

paradāreṣusaṃtuṣṭaḥ svadāreṣu parāṅmukhaḥ | ānarca jātucinnaiva devau duḥkhāṃtakāriṇau

Translation

Er fand Gefallen an fremden Frauen und wandte sich von der eigenen ab. Niemals, zu keiner Zeit, verehrte er die beiden Götter, die allem Leid ein Ende setzen.

Word by Word

• para-dāreṣu: towards others’ wives
• para-dāreṣu: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक) + dāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (‘परस्य दाराः’), पुंलिङ्ग (दाराḥ), सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), बहुवचन; locative ‘in others’ wives’

• saṃtuṣṭaḥ: satisfied
• saṃtuṣṭaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता) / Predicative adjective
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam-√tuṣ (धातु) + saṃtuṣṭa (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; ‘satisfied/pleased’

• sva-dāreṣu: towards his own wife/wives
• sva-dāreṣu: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva (प्रातिपदिक) + dāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (‘स्वस्य दाराः’), पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), बहुवचन; locative ‘in his own wife/wives’

• parāṅmukhaḥ: turned away; averse
• parāṅmukhaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता) / Predicative adjective
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parāṅ (अव्यय/उपसर्गार्थ) + mukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (‘पराङ् मुखः’ = ‘turned away’), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• ānarca: (he) did not worship
• ānarca: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√arc (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/past), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; ‘(he) did not worship’ (न-प्रत्ययार्थः निहितः प्रसङ्गतः)

• jātucit: ever; at any time
• jātucit: Avyaya (Adverbial/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: jātu (अव्यय) + cit (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय-समूह; अव्यय (काल/नियतार्थ) ‘ever/at any time’

• na: not
• na: Avyaya (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (particle of negation)

• eva: indeed; just
• eva: Avyaya (Emphasis/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• devau: the two deities
• devau: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन; nominative dual ‘the two gods’

• duḥkha-anta-kāriṇau: ending suffering
• duḥkha-anta-kāriṇau: Karma (Object/कर्म) / Predicative adjective
• Type: Adjective
• Root: duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक) + anta (प्रातिपदिक) + kārin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (‘दुःखस्य अन्तं करोति’), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन; adjective qualifying devau

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A moral contrast scene: the king in clandestine dalliance with another’s wife, while his own queen sits neglected; in the background, a small shrine to Śiva and Viṣṇu remains unlit and unworshipped, lamps extinguished.

Characters & Entities

• devau (the two deities)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Personal restraint and devotion are pillars of dharma; sensual wrongdoing and neglect of worship deepen suffering.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The context is Kāśī-Māhātmya; the narrative leads into Kāśī’s sacred precincts, especially Ānandakānana.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Worship (arcana) is implied as the corrective, but no specific vrata, dāna, or snāna is detailed in this verse.