Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 76

Devanagari script

उल्कापाते च भूकंपे दिग्दाहे मध्यरात्रिषु । संध्ययोर्वृषलोपांते राज्ञोराहोश्च सूतके

Transliteration

ulkāpāte ca bhūkaṃpe digdāhe madhyarātriṣu | saṃdhyayorvṛṣalopāṃte rājñorāhośca sūtake

Translation

During meteor-falls, earthquakes, and conflagrations in the quarters; at midnight; at the sandhyās, the junctions of the day; at the end of a disorderly upheaval; and during the sūtaka periods of ritual impurity caused by a king’s death or by Rāhu—on these too, sacred study is to be restrained.

Word by Word

• उल्कापाते: at a meteor-fall
• उल्कापाते: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उल्का (प्रातिपदिक) + पात (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (उल्कायाः पातः)

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

• भूकम्पे: during an earthquake
• भूकम्पे: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भू (प्रातिपदिक) + कम्प (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (भूः कम्पः)

• दिग्दाहे: when the quarters are burning (conflagration)
• दिग्दाहे: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिश् (प्रातिपदिक) + दाह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (दिशां दाहः)

• मध्यरात्रिषु: at midnights
• मध्यरात्रिषु: Adhikaraṇa (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्य (प्रातिपदिक) + रात्रि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः (रात्रेः मध्ये)

• संध्ययोः: of the two twilights (morning and evening)
• संध्ययोः: Adhikaraṇa (Time relation/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संध्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), द्विवचन

• वृषलोपान्ते: in the vicinity of a śūdra/outcaste
• वृषलोपान्ते: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृषल (प्रातिपदिक) + उपान्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (वृषलस्य उपान्ते)

• राज्ञोः: of two kings
• राज्ञोः: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), द्विवचन

• राहोः: of Rāhu (eclipse)
• राहोः: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राहु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

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

• सूतके: during impurity (birth/death pollution)
• सूतके: Adhikaraṇa (Occasion/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूतक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic-liminal montage: eclipse shadow over Gaṅgā, meteors streaking, tremoring earth, distant fires on horizons; a priest pauses recitation at sandhyā, holding a water vessel for ācamana.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (implied by Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
• Rāhu
• Anadhyāya (implied continuation)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Cosmic and social disruptions mark times for restraint; dharma includes sensitivity to sacred time.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is part of Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s discipline code for Kāśī, not a single tīrtha eulogy.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It enumerates further anadhyāya/inauspicious periods: meteors, earthquakes, midnight, sandhyā times, and sūtaka linked to a king’s death or to Rāhu.