Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

चिंतामवाप महतीमनाथा दैन्यमागता । कथमेकाकिनी पित्रा मात्राहीना भवांबुधेः

Transliteration

ciṃtāmavāpa mahatīmanāthā dainyamāgatā | kathamekākinī pitrā mātrāhīnā bhavāṃbudheḥ

Translation

Helpless and fallen into misery, she was seized by great anxiety: “How shall I, all alone—bereft of father and mother—cross this ocean of worldly becoming?”

Word by Word

• cintām: anxiety
• cintām: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cintā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Feminine, Acc., Singular)

• avāpa: obtained/experienced
• avāpa: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ava + āp (आप् धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (परोक्शभूत/Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद (Perfect, 3rd sg.)

• mahatīm: great
• mahatīm: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Feminine, Acc., Singular)

• anāthā: helpless/without protector
• anāthā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anātha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Feminine, Nom., Singular)

• dainyam: wretchedness
• dainyam: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dainya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Neuter, Acc., Singular)

• āgatā: having come to / having fallen into
• āgatā: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā + gam (गम् धातु) + ta (क्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past participle used predicatively); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Feminine, Nom., Singular)

• katham: how
• katham: Sambandha (Discourse/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: katham (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverb)

• ekākinī: alone
• ekākinī: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ekākinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Feminine, Nom., Singular)

• pitrā: by/with (my) father
• pitrā: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Masculine, Instr., Singular)

• mātrā-hīnā: without (my) mother
• mātrā-hīnā: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mātṛ (प्रातिपदिक) + hīna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Feminine, Nom., Singular); तत्पुरुषः (mātrā hīnā = deprived of mother)

• bhava-ambudheḥ: of the ocean of worldly existence
• bhava-ambudheḥ: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhava (प्रातिपदिक) + ambudhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Masculine, Gen., Singular); तत्पुरुषः (bhavasya ambudhiḥ = ocean of worldly existence)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Ghaṭa/Gaṅgā-tīra as existential symbol)

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A lone woman stands by the Ganga at dusk, parents absent, gazing at the vast flowing water as a symbol of the ocean of becoming; her anxiety is visible, yet a faint spiritual resolve emerges.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It frames saṃsāra as an ocean and highlights the human need for spiritual refuge when worldly supports vanish.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Implicitly Kāśī as the overarching sacred landscape, though no single tirtha is named in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a reflective lament pointing toward the need for spiritual support.