Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 72

Devanagari script

संतापहर्तांबुदवत्पवित्रो गांगनामवत् । सर्वेषामेव जंतूनां काशीव सुगतिप्रदः

Transliteration

saṃtāpahartāṃbudavatpavitro gāṃganāmavat | sarveṣāmeva jaṃtūnāṃ kāśīva sugatipradaḥ

Translation

Wie eine Regenwolke nimmst du den Schmerz hinweg, und wie die Gaṅgā läuterst du. Allen Wesen gewährst du einen seligen Übergang zum guten Ziel — wie Kāśī selbst.

Word by Word

• saṃtāpa-hartā: remover of suffering
• saṃtāpa-hartā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃtāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + hartṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (saṃtāpasya hartā = remover of affliction)

• ambuda-vat: like a cloud
• ambuda-vat: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ambuda (प्रातिपदिक) + vat (तद्धित प्रत्यय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; तद्धितान्त (वत्) = ‘like a cloud’

• pavitraḥ: pure, purifying
• pavitraḥ: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pavitra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• gāṅgā-nāma-vat: like (the river) named Ganga
• gāṅgā-nāma-vat: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: gāṅgā (प्रातिपदिक) + nāman (प्रातिपदिक) + vat (तद्धित प्रत्यय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः + वत्-तद्धितान्त = ‘like (that which has) the name “Gāṅgā”’

• sarveṣām: of all
• sarveṣām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• eva: indeed, just
• eva: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle/emphasis)

• jantūnām: of creatures, beings
• jantūnām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jantu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• kāśī: Kashi
• kāśī: Upamāna (Standard of comparison/उपमान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• iva: like
• iva: Upamā (Comparison marker/उपमा)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iva (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमा-प्रदर्शक अव्यय (comparative particle)

• sugati-pradaḥ: giver of a good destiny/liberation
• sugati-pradaḥ: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sugati (प्रातिपदिक) + prada (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; चतुर्थी-तत्पुरुषः (sugatyai pradaḥ = giver of good destiny)

Speaker

Skanda (contextual)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta) / Gaṅgā

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotional eulogy scene: the praised deity/personified power stands by the Gaṅgā at Kāśī; rain-cloud imagery pours cooling showers over suffering beings; the ghats and lamps glow, suggesting purification and safe passage.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā
• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The highest compassion is to purify others and lead them toward sugati—Kāśī is the archetype of such grace.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) is explicitly praised as sugati-pradā; Gaṅgā is also invoked as the great purifier.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is stated, but the imagery aligns with tīrtha-sevā: Gaṅgā-snāna and Kāśī-vāsa as purifying, liberation-oriented practices.