Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 7

Devanagari script

उड्डीयमानं परितः पक्षवातेरितस्ततः । रजःप्रासादसंलग्नं दूरीकुर्वद्दिनेदिने

Transliteration

uḍḍīyamānaṃ paritaḥ pakṣavāteritastataḥ | rajaḥprāsādasaṃlagnaṃ dūrīkurvaddinedine

Translation

Flying about on all sides, driven here and there by the wind of their wings, they day by day brushed away the dust that had clung to the temple.

Word by Word

• उड्डीयमानम्: flying up / in flight
• उड्डीयमानम्: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उड् (धातु) + उड्-उपसर्ग/उत्? (उड्डीय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; शानच्-प्रत्ययान्त वर्तमान कृदन्त (present middle participle)

• परितः: around
• परितः: Desha-adhikarana (Place/देशाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: परितः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (परिसरवाचक/around; adverb)

• पक्ष-वात-ईरितः: driven by the wind of (their) wings
• पक्ष-वात-ईरितः: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + वात (प्रातिपदिक) + ईरित (ईर् धातोः क्त कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle) ‘ईरित’ = प्रेरित/चालित; तत्पुरुष (पक्षवातेन ईरितः)

• ततः: thereby, from that
• ततः: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (तस्मात्/therefrom; causal/ablatival adverb)

• रजः-प्रासाद-संलग्नम्: dust stuck to the palace/temple
• रजः-प्रासाद-संलग्नम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रजस् (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रासाद (प्रातिपदिक) + संलग्न (लग् धातोः क्त कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त ‘संलग्न’ (adhered); तत्पुरुष (प्रासादे संलग्नं रजः)

• दूरी-कुर्वत्: removing, driving away
• दूरी-कुर्वत्: Karta (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दूरी (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक) + कृ (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त वर्तमान कृदन्त (present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; अव्ययीभाव-समास ‘दूरीकृ’ = दूरं करोति

• दिने-दिने: day after day
• दिने-दिने: Kala-adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: दिन (प्रातिपदिक) + दिन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव (पुनरुक्ति-समास), सप्तमी-अर्थे अव्ययवत् (day by day)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context) speaking to Agastya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Trilocana-śiva (Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrim-seeker interlocutor

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Two pigeons whirl around the temple spire; their wing-breeze lifts and scatters dust from the stone and plaster, as if nature itself is cleaning the shrine.

Characters & Entities

• Trilocana (Śiva, implied)
• prāsāda (temple)
• pigeons (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sevā—practical service to a sacred place—counts as devotion and becomes a cause of merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The prāsāda (temple precinct) near Trilocana Śiva in Kāśī, within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Daily upkeep of the shrine environment—removing dust and maintaining sanctity—presented as devotional conduct.