Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 10

Devanagari script

वेदास्त्वां न च विंदंति किमात्मक इति प्रभो । प्राप्ताः शतपथत्वं च नेतिनेतीतिवादिनः

Transliteration

vedāstvāṃ na ca viṃdaṃti kimātmaka iti prabho | prāptāḥ śatapathatvaṃ ca netinetītivādinaḥ

Translation

“The Vedas do not fully fathom You—what Your essential nature is, O Lord. Proclaiming ‘not this, not this,’ they have taken a hundred paths of approach.”

Word by Word

• वेदाः: the Vedas
• वेदाः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन

• त्वाम्: you
• त्वाम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• न: not
• न: Pratishedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय

• विन्दन्ति: find/know
• विन्दन्ति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: विद् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपदम्; धातु: विद् (to find/know)

• किमात्मकः: of what nature
• किमात्मकः: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम) + आत्मक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (किम् आत्मा यस्य/किम्-स्वरूपः)

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/quotative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरण/इत्यर्थक-अव्यय (quotative particle)

• प्रभो: O Lord
• प्रभो: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th case), एकवचन

• प्राप्ताः: having reached/attained
• प्राप्ताः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-आप् (धातु) + त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past participle) ‘प्राप्त’; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्तरि प्रयोग (having attained)

• शतपथत्वम्: the state of ‘a hundred paths’ (many approaches)
• शतपथत्वम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत (संख्या) + पथ (प्रातिपदिक) + त्व (प्रत्यय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (शतं पथाः/शतपथ) + त्व-प्रत्यय (state of)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय

• नेति: ‘not (this)’
• नेति: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/quotative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न + इति (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध + उद्धरण; वाक्यांश (neti = ‘not thus’)

• नेति: ‘not (this)’
• नेति: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/quotative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न + इति (अव्यय)
• Form: पुनरुक्ति (repetition)

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/quotative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरण-अव्यय

• वादिनः: speakers/propounders
• वादिनः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वादिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन

Speaker

Pūtātmā

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: (contextual) frame audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Devotee articulates Upaniṣadic awe: Vedas cannot fully fathom Śiva; ‘neti neti’ suggested through symbolic scrolls and branching paths around a radiant, formless-centered Śiva presence.

Characters & Entities

• Pūtātmā
• Śiva
• Vedas
• Neti-neti

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Supreme cannot be exhausted by words or concepts; scripture points toward Him through negation and multiple approaches.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the implied sacred milieu of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, where the ineffability of Śiva undergirds the city’s holiness.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the verse is theological praise emphasizing the limits of verbal description.