Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

पराधीनोहमिव किं देवदेवः पिनाकवान् । काशिकां सोऽत्यजत्कस्मान्निर्वाणमणिराशिकाम्

Transliteration

parādhīnohamiva kiṃ devadevaḥ pinākavān | kāśikāṃ so'tyajatkasmānnirvāṇamaṇirāśikām

Translation

Is the God of gods, the bearer of the Pināka bow, somehow dependent like me? Why would he abandon Kāśikā, that very heap of jewels called Nirvāṇa—liberation?

Word by Word

• पराधीनः: dependent on another
• पराधीनः: Karta (Subject complement/कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर + अधीन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—‘परस्य अधीनः’

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• इव: as if
• इव: Sambandha (Comparative marker/उपमा)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमा-अव्यय

• किम्: why? / what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रश्न-अव्यय (interrogative particle)

• देवदेवः: God of gods
• देवदेवः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव + देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः—‘देवानां देवः’

• पिनाकवान्: bearing the Pināka bow
• पिनाकवान्: Karta (Subject complement/कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पिनाक + वत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; वत्-प्रत्ययान्त—‘पिनाकधारी’

• काशिकाम्: Kāśikā (Kāśī)
• काशिकाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• अत्यजत्: abandoned
• अत्यजत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद; उपसर्ग: अति-

• कस्मात्: for what reason / why
• कस्मात्: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रश्न-अव्ययवत्; पञ्चमी-एकवचनरूपेण ‘कस्मात्’—‘कस्मात् कारणात्’ (why/from what reason)

• निर्वाणमणिराशिकाम्: the heap of ‘liberation-gems’ (epithet of Kāśī)
• निर्वाणमणिराशिकाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: निर्वाण + मणि + राशिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (बहुपद)—‘निर्वाणस्य मणीनां राशिका’ (heap/collection of liberation-gems; epithet of Kāśī)

Speaker

Agastya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśikā (Kāśī/Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Skanda (implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Agastya’s rhetorical wonder: ‘Is the Deva of devas dependent like me?’ The city of Kāśī is visualized as a radiant jewel-mass labeled ‘Nirvāṇa’, with Śiva holding Pināka above it, unshakably present.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva (Deva-deva, Pinākī)
• Kāśikā (Kāśī)
• Nirvāṇa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is extolled as intrinsically liberating—so precious that abandoning it seems theologically impossible for Śiva.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśikā/Kāśī, explicitly praised as a treasury of nirvāṇa (mokṣa).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse uses praise and reasoning to heighten Kāśī’s status as a liberation-field.