Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

मासिमासि कुशाग्रांबु पानादन्यत्र यत्फलम् । काश्यामुत्तरवाहिन्यामेकेन चुलुकेन तत्

Transliteration

māsimāsi kuśāgrāṃbu pānādanyatra yatphalam | kāśyāmuttaravāhinyāmekena culukena tat

Translation

Whatever merit is gained elsewhere by sipping water touched with the tip of kuśa grass month after month—that same merit is gained in Kāśī, on the north-flowing river, by a single palmful sip.

Word by Word

• māsi: in a month
• māsi: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन

• māsi: month after month
• māsi: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन; पुनरुक्ति (māsi-māsi = month after month)

• kuśāgra-ambu: water (taken) with the tip of kuśa grass
• kuśāgra-ambu: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kuśa-agra (प्रातिपदिक) + ambu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘कुशाग्रस्य अम्बु’ (water touched by the tip of kuśa)

• pānāt: from drinking
• pānāt: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pā (धातु) → pāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन; क्रियानाम (act of drinking)

• anyatra: elsewhere
• anyatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anyatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देश/विषय-अव्यय (adverb: elsewhere)

• yat-phalam: whatever fruit/result
• yat-phalam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + phala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Nom/Acc), एकवचन; कर्मधारय: ‘यत् फलम्’

• kāśyām: in Kāśī
• kāśyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन

• uttaravāhinyām: in the north-flowing (river)
• uttaravāhinyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uttara-vāhinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन; कर्मधारय: ‘उत्तरा (northward) + वाहिनी (flowing)’; विशेषण of ‘(गङ्गायाम्)’ implied / of Kāśī’s river

• ekena: with one
• ekena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन; विशेषण of ‘culukena’

• culukena: handful/sip (from cupped hand)
• culukena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: culuka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन

• tat: that (same result)
• tat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Nom/Acc), एकवचन; अन्वयः ‘तत् (फलम्)’

Speaker

Skanda (contextual attribution within Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogues)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Uttaravāhinī Gaṅgā (in Kāśī)

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim at dawn on a Kāśī ghāṭ, taking a single palmful sip from the north-flowing Gaṅgā, with kuśa grass visible, sun rays on ripples, priests nearby.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Kuśa
• Uttaravāhinī (north-flowing river/stream, associated with Gaṅgā at Kāśī)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī’s sacred setting makes even small ritual acts spiritually potent, equaling prolonged disciplines elsewhere.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī, specifically its uttaravāhinī river-current, understood in tradition as the Gaṅgā’s auspicious flow at Vārāṇasī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Kuśāgrāmbu-pāna (sipping ritually sanctified water) and, in Kāśī, taking even a single culuka (palmful sip) from the sacred flow.