Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 55

Devanagari script

दुःखार्णव निमग्नानां यातायातेति खेदिनाम् । कर्मपाशितकंठानां काश्येका मुक्तिसाधनम्

Transliteration

duḥkhārṇava nimagnānāṃ yātāyāteti khedinām | karmapāśitakaṃṭhānāṃ kāśyekā muktisādhanam

Translation

Für jene, die im Ozean des Leids versinken, des endlosen Kommens und Gehens müde und vom Strick des Karma an der Kehle gewürgt, ist allein Kāśī das Mittel zur Befreiung.

Word by Word

• duḥkha-arṇava-nimagnānām: of those sunk in the ocean of sorrow
• duḥkha-arṇava-nimagnānām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक) + arṇava (प्रातिपदिक) + nimagna (नि√मज्ज् धातु, क्त)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समासः; कृदन्त (क्त); पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (khedinām / implied beings)

• yātāyāta: going and coming (transmigration)
• yātāyāta: Sambandha (Quoted content/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yāta (√yā धातु, क्त) + āyāta (आ√yā धातु, क्त)
• Form: द्वन्द्व-समासः (यात + आयात); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; here as quoted notion

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Quotation marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; इति-शब्दः (quotative particle)

• khedinām: of the distressed
• khedinām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: khedin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; भाववाचक/कर्तृवाचक (those who are distressed)

• karma-pāśita-kaṇṭhānām: of those whose throats are bound by the noose of karma
• karma-pāśita-kaṇṭhānām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: karma (प्रातिपदिक) + pāśita (√pāś धातु, क्त) + kaṇṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समासः; कृदन्त (क्त); पुल्लिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (khedinām / implied beings)

• kāśī: Kashi
• kāśī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• ekā: alone, the only one
• ekā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (kāśī)

• mukti-sādhanam: means of liberation
• mukti-sādhanam: Karya (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mukti (प्रातिपदिक) + sādhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समासः; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विधेय (predicate nominative)

Speaker

Skanda (māhātmya exposition)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Agastya

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic tableau: beings struggling in a dark ocean labeled ‘duḥkha’, a wheel of yātāyāta turning; above, Kāśī shines like a luminous island with a liṅga, offering a path upward; a loosened ‘karma-noose’ around the neck dissolves.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• Karma
• Saṃsāra (yātāyāta)
• Mukti

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is exalted as a singular liberating refuge for beings trapped in karma and saṃsāra.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), explicitly praised as “ekā mukti-sādhanam” (the sole means to liberation).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific rite is named; the implied prescription is pilgrimage/residence in Kāśī with Śaiva orientation toward liberation.