Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 2

Devanagari script

परं ब्रह्म यदाम्नातं निष्प्रपंचं निरात्मकम् । निर्विकल्पं निराकारमव्यक्तं स्थूलसूक्ष्मवत्

Transliteration

paraṃ brahma yadāmnātaṃ niṣprapaṃcaṃ nirātmakam | nirvikalpaṃ nirākāramavyaktaṃ sthūlasūkṣmavat

Translation

That Supreme Brahman, as declared in sacred tradition, is beyond all manifestation, without limiting selfhood, free from conceptual division, formless and unmanifest—yet pervading as though it were both the gross and the subtle.

Word by Word

• परम्: supreme
• परम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; ब्रह्म विशेषणम्

• ब्रह्म: Brahman, Absolute
• ब्रह्म: Karta (Topic/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन

• यत्: which
• यत्: Sambandha (Relative pronoun/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम

• आम्नातम्: traditionally taught
• आम्नातम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आ+म्ना (धातु) → आम्नात (कृदन्त)
• Form: कर्मणि क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; “handed down/recited in tradition”

• निष्प्रपञ्चम्: free of phenomenal expansion
• निष्प्रपञ्चम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निः+प्रपञ्च (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; “free from manifoldness”

• निरात्मकम्: without (limited) self-constitution
• निरात्मकम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्+आत्मक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; “without (limited) self-nature / not constituted (as an object)”

• निर्विकल्पम्: free from conceptual distinctions
• निर्विकल्पम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्+विकल्प (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन

• निराकारम्: formless
• निराकारम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्+आकार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन

• अव्यक्तम्: unmanifest
• अव्यक्तम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अव्यक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन

• स्थूल-सूक्ष्म-वत्: having (aspects of) gross and subtle
• स्थूल-सूक्ष्म-वत्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्थूल (प्रातिपदिक) + सूक्ष्म (प्रातिपदिक) + वत् (तद्धित)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन; द्वन्द्व-पूर्वपद + वत्-प्रत्यय (possessing both gross and subtle aspects)

Speaker

Skanda (continuing instruction to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Avimukta (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Agastya

Visual Art Cues

Scene: An abstract-leaning teaching moment: Skanda describes the formless Brahman; artists may depict a luminous, unfigured radiance (tejas) behind Skanda, with subtle overlays of gross (mountains, bodies) and subtle (prāṇa, light) dissolving into a single glow.

Characters & Entities

• Brahman

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Liberation is grounded in realizing the Supreme as formless and unconditioned, beyond mental constructions.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching is situated within the Avimukta Māhātmya of Kāśī, linking metaphysics to sacred geography.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; it provides philosophical orientation (tattva-jñāna) supporting mokṣa.