Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 68

Devanagari script

वैधव्यं स्थूलरोमाणौ ह्रस्वौ दौर्भाग्यसूचकौ । परिक्लेशाय नारीणां परिदृश्यशिरौ भुजौ

Transliteration

vaidhavyaṃ sthūlaromāṇau hrasvau daurbhāgyasūcakau | parikleśāya nārīṇāṃ paridṛśyaśirau bhujau

Translation

Arms that are short and covered with coarse hair are said to indicate widowhood and misfortune. Arms whose ends or joints are conspicuously visible are declared to bring hardship to women.

Word by Word

• वैधव्यम्: widowhood
• वैधव्यम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैधव्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन

• स्थूल-रोमाणौ: having thick hair (on the arms)
• स्थूल-रोमाणौ: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्थूल (प्रातिपदिक) + रोमन्/रोम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; विशेषण (qualifying)

• ह्रस्वौ: short
• ह्रस्वौ: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ह्रस्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; विशेषण

• दौर्भाग्य-सूचकौ: indicating misfortune
• दौर्भाग्य-सूचकौ: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दौर्भाग्य (प्रातिपदिक) + सूचक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; विशेषण

• परिक्लेशाय: for affliction
• परिक्लेशाय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: परिक्लेश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी-विभक्ति (Dative), एकवचन

• नारीणाम्: of women
• नारीणाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नारी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), बहुवचन

• परिदृश्य-शिरौ: with conspicuous heads (joints)
• परिदृश्य-शिरौ: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परिदृश्य (कृदन्त; परि+दृश् धातु, ल्यप्/तव्यत्-भाव) + शिरस्/शिर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; विशेषण

• भुजौ: the two arms
• भुजौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भुज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Avimukta-kṣetra (Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer audience (generic)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A didactic setting in Kāśī: a learned narrator describes inauspicious arm-features (short, coarse-haired arms; prominent joints) as hardship-signs for women, with the city’s ghāṭas and temples faintly present as a moral backdrop.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It warns against inauspicious extremes and frames suffering as karmically signaled, encouraging careful, dharmic decision-making.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the overarching sacred setting, but this verse does not praise a specific tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.