Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

रेरे भवे शोकजलैकपूर्णे पापेस्मलोकाः पतिताब्धिमध्ये । विद्राणनिद्राणविरोधिपापां काशीं परित्यज्यतरिं किमर्थम्

Transliteration

rere bhave śokajalaikapūrṇe pāpesmalokāḥ patitābdhimadhye | vidrāṇanidrāṇavirodhipāpāṃ kāśīṃ parityajyatariṃ kimartham

Translation

Alas! In this worldly becoming, filled only with the waters of sorrow, people sink into the ocean of sin. When Kāśī is at hand—the boat that shatters sin and destroys the slumber of ignorance—why abandon it and try to cross by some other means?

Word by Word

• रे: hey!
• रे: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: रे (अव्यय/सम्बोधन-निपात)
• Form: सम्बोधन-निपात (vocative particle), पुनरुक्ति-प्रयोगः (रे रे)

• रे: hey!
• रे: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: रे (अव्यय/सम्बोधन-निपात)
• Form: सम्बोधन-निपात (vocative particle)

• भवे: in worldly existence (saṃsāra)
• भवे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन (singular)

• शोक-जल-एक-पूर्णे: filled solely with the water of sorrow
• शोक-जल-एक-पूर्णे: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शोक (प्रातिपदिक) + जल (प्रातिपदिक) + एक (प्रातिपदिक/संख्या) + पूर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (शोकजलैः एकं पूर्णम् इति)

• पापे: sinful
• पापे: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; ‘भवे’ इति विशेषणम्

• अस्मिन्: in this
• अस्मिन्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, पुंलिङ्गे/नपुंसके, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• लोकाः: people
• लोकाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन (plural)

• पतित-अब्धि-मध्ये: in the midst of the ocean of the fallen
• पतित-अब्धि-मध्ये: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पतित (कृदन्त; √पत् (धातु) + क्त) + अब्धि (प्रातिपदिक) + मध्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (पतितानाम् अब्धिः, तस्य मध्ये)

• विद्राण-निद्राण-विरोधि-पापाम्: that which opposes (destroys) the sins of the wakeful and the sleeping
• विद्राण-निद्राण-विरोधि-पापाम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विद्राण (प्रातिपदिक) + निद्राण (प्रातिपदिक) + विरोधिन् (प्रातिपदिक) + पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; ‘काशीम्’ इति विशेषणम्; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (विद्राणनिद्राणयोः विरोधि यत् पापं, तद्-रहिताम्/तद्विरोधिनीम् इत्यर्थे)

• काशीम्: Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• काशीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• परित्यज्य: having abandoned
• परित्यज्य: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: परि-√त्यज् (धातु) + ल्यप् (अव्यय-कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त/ल्यपन्त अव्यय (gerund), ‘having abandoned’

• तरिम्: a boat (means of crossing)
• तरिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तरि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• किम्: what
• किम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; ‘अर्थम्’ इति विशेषणम्

• अर्थम्: for what purpose/why
• अर्थम्: Hetu (Reason/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; प्रश्नार्थे ‘किमर्थम्’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue, typically Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sorrow-flooded world-ocean where beings sink; Kāśī appears as a luminous boat with Śiva as ferryman, shattering dark ‘sleep’ (avidyā) as dawn breaks over the Gaṅgā and Viśvanātha’s spire.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Saṃsāra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is praised as a direct, powerful refuge for crossing saṃsāra; rejecting it is portrayed as spiritual folly.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), revered as the liberating sacred city.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific ritual is prescribed; the verse emphasizes taking refuge in Kāśī itself as the saving ‘boat’.