Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 19

Devanagari script

हंहो किमंहो निचिताः प्रलब्धा बंहीयसायास भरेण काशीम् । प्रभूतपुण्यद्रविणैकपण्यां प्राप्यापि हित्वा क्व च गंतुमुद्यताः

Transliteration

haṃho kimaṃho nicitāḥ pralabdhā baṃhīyasāyāsa bhareṇa kāśīm | prabhūtapuṇyadraviṇaikapaṇyāṃ prāpyāpi hitvā kva ca gaṃtumudyatāḥ

Translation

Alas—what a grievous sin! Having gathered merit and, under immense labor, obtained Kāśī—the single marketplace where abundant merit is the true wealth—having attained her, why are they ready to abandon her and go elsewhere?

Word by Word

• haṃho: alas!, oh!
• haṃho: Sambodhana/Exclamation (सम्बोधन/उद्गार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: haṃho (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्गार-अव्यय (interjection)

• kim: what? why?
• kim: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• aṃhaḥ: sin, distress
• aṃhaḥ: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aṃhas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• nicitāḥ: accumulated
• nicitāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni√ci (चि धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (Past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘संचिताः’

• pralabdhāḥ: obtained
• pralabdhāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra√labh (लभ् धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘प्राप्ताः’

• baṃhīyasa-āyāsa-bhareṇa: with the burden of excessive effort
• baṃhīyasa-āyāsa-bhareṇa: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: baṃhīyas (प्रातिपदिक; तुलनात्मक) + āyāsa (प्रातिपदिक) + bhara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; समासः—‘अधिक-आयासस्य भरः’ (burden of greater toil)

• kāśīm: Kāśī
• kāśīm: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• prabhūta-puṇya-draviṇa-eka-paṇyām: (Kāśī) the sole ‘commodity’ of abundant merit and wealth
• prabhūta-puṇya-draviṇa-eka-paṇyām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhūta (प्रातिपदिक) + puṇya (प्रातिपदिक) + draviṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + eka (प्रातिपदिक) + paṇya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—‘प्रभूतं पुण्यं द्रविणं च यस्याः, एकं पण्यं (विक्रेयवस्तु) इव’ (metaphor: sole commodity of abundant merit/wealth)

• prāpya: having attained
• prāpya: Kriya-visheshana (Converb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra√āp (आप् धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (Gerund), ‘प्राप्य’ = प्राप्त्वा

• api: even, also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्भावना/अपि-कारक (particle: even/also)

• hitvā: having abandoned
• hitvā: Kriya-visheshana (Converb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: hā (हा धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (Gerund), ‘त्यक्त्वा’

• kva: where?
• kva: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kva (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverb: where)

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय

• gantum: to go
• gantum: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (गम् धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्त (Infinitive)

• udyatāḥ: ready/intent (to set out)
• udyatāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ud√yam (यम् धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘उद्युक्ताः’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic bazaar where stalls offer ‘puṇya’ as jewels; Kāśī appears as a grand marketplace-city; travelers who try to leave carry empty bags, while those who stay receive luminous coins of merit.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Puṇya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is depicted as the supreme ‘market’ of spiritual wealth; leaving after reaching it wastes hard-earned merit and invites downfall.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), metaphorically the unique emporium of puṇya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse is an admonition against abandoning Kāśī once attained.