Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 33

Devanagari script

ऊर्ध्वरेतःप्रियोर्ध्वाध्वा ह्यूर्मिलोर्ध्वगतिप्रदा । ऋषिवृंदस्तुतर्द्धिश्च ऋणत्रयविनाशिनी

Transliteration

ūrdhvaretaḥpriyordhvādhvā hyūrmilordhvagatipradā | ṛṣivṛṃdastutarddhiśca ṛṇatrayavināśinī

Translation

You are dear to the ascetic of upward energy, and you are the upward path itself; you are the wave of sacred power granting higher movement. You are the prosperity praised by hosts of sages, and you destroy the threefold debt.

Word by Word

• ऊर्ध्वरेतःप्रिय: dear to the one of upward semen (ascetic)
• ऊर्ध्वरेतःप्रिय: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ऊर्ध्व (प्रातिपदिक) + रेतस् (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (feminine, nominative, singular; adjective)

• ऊर्ध्वाध्वा: having an upward path
• ऊर्ध्वाध्वा: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ऊर्ध्व (प्रातिपदिक) + अध्वन्/अध्वा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (feminine, nominative, singular; adjective)

• हि: indeed
• हि: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• ऊर्मिल: wavy, wave-like
• ऊर्मिल: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ऊर्मि (प्रातिपदिक) + ल (प्रातिपदिक/प्रत्यय)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (feminine, nominative, singular; adjective)

• ऊर्ध्वगतिप्रदा: giver of upward movement
• ऊर्ध्वगतिप्रदा: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ऊर्ध्व (प्रातिपदिक) + गति (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रदा (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक from √दा)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (feminine, nominative, singular; adjective)

• ऋषिवृन्दस्तुत: praised by groups of sages
• ऋषिवृन्दस्तुत: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ऋषि (प्रातिपदिक) + वृन्द (प्रातिपदिक) + स्तुत (कृदन्त from √स्तु)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (feminine, nominative, singular; adjective)

• ऋद्धिः: prosperity, success
• ऋद्धिः: Visheshya (Apposition/विशेष्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋद्धि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (feminine, nominative, singular)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक निपात (conjunction/particle)

• ऋणत्रयविनाशिनी: destroyer of the three debts
• ऋणत्रयविनाशिनी: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ऋण (प्रातिपदिक) + त्रय (प्रातिपदिक) + विनाशिनी (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक from √नश् with vi-)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (feminine, nominative, singular; adjective)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-Gaṅgā (as ūrdhvādhvā)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Kṣetra-māhātmya audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Austerely radiant sages praise Gaṅgā at a Kāśī ghāṭa; a vertical beam of light rises from the river symbolizing ūrdhva-mārga; three symbolic bonds (debts) dissolve into the water as offerings are made.

Characters & Entities

• Ṛṣis (sages)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī’s sacred power supports ascetic uplift and helps fulfill or dissolve life’s fundamental obligations (the three debts).

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) is the implied liberating kṣetra within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa framework.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription; it alludes to dharmic completion (ṛṇa-traya) typically addressed through yajña, study, and ancestral rites.