Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 84

Devanagari script

हरिकेशो विचार्येति यातो वाराणसीं पुरीम् । यत्राविमुक्ते जंतूनां त्यजतां पार्थिवीं तनुम्

Transliteration

harikeśo vicāryeti yāto vārāṇasīṃ purīm | yatrāvimukte jaṃtūnāṃ tyajatāṃ pārthivīṃ tanum

Translation

Reflecting thus, Harikeśa set out for the city of Vārāṇasī—Avimukta—where, for living beings who cast off their earthly body, the kṣetra’s liberating ordinance prevails.

Word by Word

• हरिकेशः: Harikeśa (one with tawny/greenish hair; proper name)
• हरिकेशः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हरि-केश (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्ता

• विचार्य: having considered
• विचार्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-चर् (धातु) + ल्यप् (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त/ल्यपन्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund), ‘having reflected/considered’

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Quotative/इति)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरण/वाक्यसमाप्ति-निपात (quotative particle)

• यातः: went, having gone
• यातः: Karta (Subject predicate/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्तरि-भाव (gone)

• वाराणसीम्: to Vārāṇasī
• वाराणसीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाराणसी (प्रातिपदिक; स्थाननाम)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म (destination)

• पुरीम्: the city
• पुरीम्: Karma (Object/apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; अपादान/कर्म (apposition to वाराणसीम्)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (relative adverb of place)

• अविमुक्ते: in Avimukta (the sacred area)
• अविमुक्ते: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अविमुक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग (स्थाननाम), सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरण

• जन्तूनाम्: of beings
• जन्तूनाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्तु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध (of creatures)

• त्यजताम्: of (those) abandoning
• त्यजताम्: Sambandha (Genitive qualifier/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु) + शतृ (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ), पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; ‘त्यजत्’ = abandoning

• पार्थिवीम्: earthly
• पार्थिवीम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पार्थिव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying ‘तनुम्’)

• तनुम्: body
• तनुम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तनु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म (object of ‘त्यजताम्’)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Avimukta (Vārāṇasī/Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Harikeśa, having reflected, begins his journey toward Vārāṇasī: a pilgrim on the road with staff and waterpot, the distant skyline of Kāśī’s temples and ghāṭs emerging, signifying the pull of Avimukta’s liberating promise.

Characters & Entities

• Harikeśa
• Vārāṇasī
• Avimukta
• Kāśī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Wise discernment leads the seeker toward Avimukta (Kāśī), renowned as a place where the moment of leaving the body is spiritually decisive.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), specifically Avimukta-kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse frames pilgrimage/residence in Avimukta as the central religious act.