Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 63

Devanagari script

अथवा कारणापेक्षस्त्र्यक्षस्त्वितरदेववत् । रंकमप्यनुगृह्णाति केवलं कारणं कृपा

Transliteration

athavā kāraṇāpekṣastryakṣastvitaradevavat | raṃkamapyanugṛhṇāti kevalaṃ kāraṇaṃ kṛpā

Translation

Oder auch — wie andere Gottheiten, die nach einem Vorwand suchen — kann der Dreiaugige Herr sogar einen Armen begünstigen. Die einzige wahre Ursache ist das Erbarmen selbst.

Word by Word

• अथवा: or else
• अथवा: सम्बन्ध (Discourse)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: athavā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक-अव्यय (disjunctive particle)

• कारणापेक्षः: dependent on a cause
• कारणापेक्षः: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kāraṇa-apekṣa (प्रातिपदिक; कारण + अपेक्ष)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (कारणस्य अपेक्षः)

• त्र्यक्षः: Tryakṣa (three-eyed Śiva)
• त्र्यक्षः: कर्ता (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: try-akṣa (प्रातिपदिक; त्रि + अक्ष)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; द्विगु-समासः (त्रीणि अक्षीणि यस्य) शिवस्य नाम

• तु: but
• तु: सम्बन्ध (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: विरोध/विशेषार्थक-अव्यय (but/indeed)

• इतरदेववत्: like other gods
• इतरदेववत्: सम्बन्ध (Comparison)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: itara-deva-vat (प्रातिपदिक; इतर + देव + वत्)
• Form: तुल्यवाचक-अव्यय (vat-suffix; adverbial), ‘इतरदेव’ इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः; समासान्त ‘वत्’ = ‘like’

• रङ्कम्: a poor man
• रङ्कम्: कर्म (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: raṅka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

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

• अनुगृह्णाति: favors/graces
• अनुगृह्णाति: क्रिया (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: anu-√grah (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/लट्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• केवलम्: only
• केवलम्: सम्बन्ध (Adverbial)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kevala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; अत्र क्रियाविशेषणवत् ‘only’

• कारणम्: cause
• कारणम्: कर्ता/प्रधाना (Predicate noun)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• कृपा: compassion/grace
• कृपा: कर्ता (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛpā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

Speaker

Tvaṣṭṛ’s son (tvāṣṭraḥ)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī / Viśveśvara-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: sages

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A contemplative figure seated on a ghat step, looking at the Ganga, reflecting on the three-eyed Lord’s compassion that reaches even the destitute; faint vision of Śiva’s third eye in the sky.

Characters & Entities

• Tryakṣa (Śiva)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śiva’s anugraha ultimately rests on compassion, not on status; even the lowly can be uplifted.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse sits within Kāśī Khaṇḍa’s praise of Śiva’s grace, implicitly tied to Viśveśvara’s Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the teaching is doctrinal—kṛpā is the decisive ‘cause’ of blessing.