Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 49

Devanagari script

अंभोभिरभिषिच्यस्वं जननीचरणच्युतैः । प्राप्नुयात्स्वर्धुनीशुद्ध कबंधाधिकशुद्धताम्

Transliteration

aṃbhobhirabhiṣicyasvaṃ jananīcaraṇacyutaiḥ | prāpnuyātsvardhunīśuddha kabaṃdhādhikaśuddhatām

Translation

If one bathes oneself with the water that has flowed from one’s mother’s feet, one attains—O pure one, like the Gaṅgā—a purity surpassing even the famed purity won by sacred means.

Word by Word

• अंभोभिः: with waters
• अंभोभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अम्भस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन

• अभिषिच्य: having sprinkled (bathed)
• अभिषिच्य: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial to action/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सिच् (धातु) + अभि- (उपसर्ग)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभाव; ‘having sprinkled/bathed’

• स्वम्: oneself
• स्वम्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; आत्मवाचक ‘oneself’

• जननी-चरण-च्युतैः: with (waters) fallen from the mother’s feet
• जननी-चरण-च्युतैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जननी (प्रातिपदिक) + चरण (प्रातिपदिक) + च्युत (कृदन्त, √च्यु)
• Form: समासः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः): ‘जनन्याः चरणात् च्युत’ = ‘fallen from mother’s feet’; पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन

• प्राप्नुयात्: would attain
• प्राप्नुयात्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आप् (धातु) + प्र- (उपसर्ग)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• स्वर्धुनी-शुद्ध: O (one) pure as the heavenly river
• स्वर्धुनी-शुद्ध: Sambodhana (Vocative/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्वर्धुनी (प्रातिपदिक) + शुद्ध (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त)
• Form: समासः (कर्मधारयः): ‘स्वर्धुनी-शुद्ध’ = ‘pure like the heavenly river (Gaṅgā)’; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन (सम्बोधन/विशेषणरूपेण)

• कबंध-अधिक-शुद्धताम्: a purity greater than Kabandha’s
• कबंध-अधिक-शुद्धताम्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कबंध (प्रातिपदिक) + अधिक (प्रातिपदिक) + शुद्धता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः (तत्पुरुषः): ‘कबंधात् अधिका शुद्धता’ = ‘purity greater than (that of) Kabandha’; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

Speaker

Nārada (continued discourse)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (with implicit Gaṅgā purity imagery)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee bows at his mother’s feet; a small vessel catches the water used to wash her feet; the devotee anoints his head with it, with Kāśī’s ghāṭs and the Gaṅgā shimmering in the background.

Characters & Entities

• Mother
• Svardhunī (Gaṅgā)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The mother is treated as a living tīrtha; reverence to her is portrayed as supremely purifying.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gaṅgā (Svardhunī) is invoked as the archetype of purity, while the mother’s feet are presented as an even more immediate ‘tīrtha’ for the child.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Abhiṣeka/snān-like bathing with water from the mother’s feet (a symbolic act of humility and reverence).