Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 6

Devanagari script

गिरींद्रजागिरं श्रुत्वा गिरीश इति तत्त्ववित् । हित्वा हिमगिरिं प्राप्तो निजमानंदकाननम्

Transliteration

girīṃdrajāgiraṃ śrutvā girīśa iti tattvavit | hitvā himagiriṃ prāpto nijamānaṃdakānanam

Translation

Als er den Ruf des Herrn der Berge vernahm, kam der Wahrheitskundige—Śiva, der Bergesherr—vom Himālaya fort und gelangte in seinen eigenen Hain der Seligkeit, den Ānandavana (Kāśī).

Word by Word

• गिरीन्द्रजागिरम्: the proclamation/utterance of the lord of mountains
• गिरीन्द्रजागिरम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरीन्द्र + जागिर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), एकवचन; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (गिरीन्द्रस्य जागिरम्)

• श्रुत्वा: having heard
• श्रुत्वा: Kriya (Gerundial action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्त (absolutive/gerund), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया; धातुः—श्रु (to hear)

• गिरीशः: Giriśa (Śiva)
• गिरीशः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरीश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (कर्ता), एकवचन

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Quotation marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरण/निगमनार्थक अव्यय (quotative particle)

• तत्त्ववित्: knower of reality
• तत्त्ववित्: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तत्त्व + विद् (प्रातिपदिक; विद्-धातुजन्य)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (तत्त्वस्य वित् = तत्त्वज्ञः)

• हित्वा: having left
• हित्वा: Kriya (Gerundial action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: हा (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्त (absolutive), धातुः—हा (to abandon)

• हिमगिरिम्: the Himālaya mountain
• हिमगिरिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हिमगिरि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष (हिमः गिरिः)

• प्राप्तः: arrived/reached
• प्राप्तः: Karta (Predicate participle/कर्तृवाचक)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + आप् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्तरि प्रयोगे ‘having reached/arrived’

• निजमानन्दकाननम्: his own blissful forest-grove
• निजमानन्दकाननम्: Karma (Destination/object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: निज + मानन्द + कानन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (निजं मानन्दकाननम्)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Ānandavana (within Kāśī/Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva, the mountain-lord, hearing a divine summons, turns from the snowy Himālaya and journeys toward Kāśī’s Ānandavana—lush, radiant, filled with sacred trees and subtle liṅga-presence—signaling a cosmic ‘homecoming’ into the city of liberation.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva (Giriśa)
• Himālaya (Himagiri)
• Ānandavana (Kāśī)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī (Ānandavana) is portrayed as Śiva’s own chosen abode, the natural seat of divine bliss and liberation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Ānandavana—identified with the Kāśī-kṣetra (Vārāṇasī sacred region).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse focuses on Śiva’s movement to and residence in the sacred field.