Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

शिखी मुंडी जटी वापि कौपीनी वा दिगंबरः । मुमुक्षुः को न सेवेत मुक्तिदां मणिकर्णिकाम्

Transliteration

śikhī muṃḍī jaṭī vāpi kaupīnī vā digaṃbaraḥ | mumukṣuḥ ko na seveta muktidāṃ maṇikarṇikām

Translation

Whether with a tuft of hair, shaven-headed, wearing matted locks, clad only in a loincloth, or going unclad—what seeker of mokṣa would not resort to Maṇikarṇikā, the giver of liberation?

Word by Word

• शिखी: one with a topknot/crest
• शिखी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिखिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मुंडी: shaven-headed one
• मुंडी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुंडिन्/मुंडी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• जटी: matted-haired ascetic
• जटी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जटिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विकल्पार्थक-निपात (or) — Indeclinable disjunctive particle

• अपि: even/also
• अपि: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (also/even) — Indeclinable particle

• कौपीनी: one wearing a loincloth
• कौपीनी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौपीनिन्/कौपीनी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विकल्पार्थक-निपात — Indeclinable

• दिगंबरः: sky-clad (naked ascetic)
• दिगंबरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिगंबर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः कर्मधारयः (दिग् एव अम्बरम् यस्य/दिगम्बरः) — Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मुमुक्षुः: one desiring liberation
• मुमुक्षुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुच् (धातु) + मुमुक्षु (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कृदन्तः—उणादि/इच्छार्थक (मुमुक्षु=मोक्तुमिच्छन्) — Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कः: who
• कः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक-सर्वनाम — Masculine, Nominative, Singular (interrogative)

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध-निपात (not) — Negative particle

• सेवेत: should serve/resort to
• सेवेत: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सेव् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद — Optative, 3rd person, Singular, Atmanepada

• मुक्ति-दाम्: liberation-giving
• मुक्ति-दाम्: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्मविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मुक्ति (प्रातिपदिक) + दा (धातु) → द (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः उपपद-तत्पुरुषः (मुक्तिं ददाति इति) — Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• मणिकर्णिकाम्: Maṇikarṇikā (sacred place)
• मणिकर्णिकाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मणिकर्णिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), एकवचन — Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and sages

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A procession of diverse renunciant types—śikhī, muṇḍī, jaṭī, kaupīna-dhārī, digambara—standing at Maṇikarṇikā ghāṭ with funeral pyres and the Ganga, all gazing toward the mokṣa-giving tīrtha with equal reverence.

Characters & Entities

• Maṇikarṇikā
• Mokṣa
• Ascetic marks (śikhā, muṇḍa, jaṭā, kaupīna, digaṃbara)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

External marks of renunciation differ, but the true mumukṣu is drawn to the liberating power of Kāśī’s Maṇikarṇikā.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Maṇikarṇikā tīrtha (Maṇikarṇikā-ghāṭa) in Kāśī (Vārāṇasī).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Not a specific rite—rather the exhortation to ‘sevate’ (resort to/serve) Maṇikarṇikā as a liberating sacred place.