Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 28

Devanagari script

सापदं संपदं ज्ञात्वा सापायं कायमुच्चकैः । चपला चपलं चायुर्मत्वा काशीं समाश्रयेत्

Transliteration

sāpadaṃ saṃpadaṃ jñātvā sāpāyaṃ kāyamuccakaiḥ | capalā capalaṃ cāyurmatvā kāśīṃ samāśrayet

Translation

Knowing that prosperity is attended by danger, and that the body is full of perils; realizing that fortune is fickle and life too is fickle—one should take refuge in Kāśī.

Word by Word

• सापदम्: with danger
• सापदम्: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स + आपद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (‘आपद्-सहितम्’)

• संपदम्: prosperity, fortune
• संपदम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संपद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• ज्ञात्वा: having known
• ज्ञात्वा: Pūrvakāla (Prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ज्ञा (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त (absolutive/gerund)

• सापायम्: with peril
• सापायम्: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स + अपाय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (‘अपाय-सहितम्’)

• कायम्: body
• कायम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• उच्चकैः: earnestly, emphatically
• उच्चकैः: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उच्चकैः (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय (adverb: ‘loudly/clearly/earnestly’)

• चपला: fickle
• चपला: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चपल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• चपलम्: fickle
• चपलम्: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चपल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Conjunction)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय (conjunction)

• आयुः: life-span
• आयुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आयुस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• मत्वा: having considered
• मत्वा: Pūrvakāla (Prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मन् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त (absolutive/gerund)

• काशीम्: Kāśī
• काशीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• समाश्रयेत्: should resort to
• समाश्रयेत्: Kriya (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + आ + श्रि (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A contrast tableau: on one side, a wealthy house with looming dangers (storm, illness); on the other, the pilgrim steps onto Kāśī’s ghāṭa, taking refuge under Śiva’s protective presence.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Āyuḥ

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Because worldly security is unstable, one should seek the stable refuge of the liberating kṣetra—Kāśī.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), explicitly recommended as a refuge.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific rite; the prescription is an existential one—“samāśrayet,” to resort to/dwell in Kāśī.