Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 30

Devanagari script

असौ न ब्रह्मचारी स्यात्कृतपाणिग्रह स्थितिः । वानप्रस्थ्यं कुतश्चास्मिन्नैश्वर्यमदमोहिते

Transliteration

asau na brahmacārī syātkṛtapāṇigraha sthitiḥ | vānaprasthyaṃ kutaścāsminnaiśvaryamadamohite

Translation

He cannot be a brahmacārin, for he stands in the state of having taken a wife’s hand in marriage. And how could there be vānaprastha in him—deluded as he is by the intoxication of power?

Word by Word

• असौ: that (one)
• असौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asau (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• न: not
• न: Nishedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक निपात

• ब्रह्मचारी: celibate student
• ब्रह्मचारी: Pratishedhya (Negated predicate/निषेध्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahmacārin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• स्यात्: would be
• स्यात्: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• कृतपाणिग्रहस्थितिः: one whose state is (already) married (hand-taking done)
• कृतपाणिग्रहस्थितिः: Karta (Subject complement/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛta (कृ धातु, क्त) + pāṇi + graha (ग्रह् धातु, भाव) + sthiti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषसमासः (कृतं पाणिग्रहणं यस्याः सा स्थितिः / पाणिग्रहणस्य कृतत्वेन स्थितिः)

• वानप्रस्थ्यम्: forest-dweller stage
• वानप्रस्थ्यम्: Prashna (Predicate nominal/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vānaprasthya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन

• कुतः: how/whence
• कुतः: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kutas (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक/हेतुवाचक अव्यय (whence/how?)

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

• अस्मिन्: in this (one)
• अस्मिन्: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• ऐश्वर्यमदमोहिते: in one deluded by power and pride
• ऐश्वर्यमदमोहिते: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aiśvarya + mada + mohita (मुह् धातु, क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; संबोधनाभावेन विशेषणरूपेण; समासः (ऐश्वर्येण मदेन च मोहितः)

Speaker

Dakṣa (as reported in Skanda’s narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A disputant points out the contradiction: ‘not brahmacārin’ due to marriage, ‘not vānaprastha’ due to lordly intoxication; behind, a symbolic tableau shows Śiva’s wedding iconography on one side and ascetic cremation-ground symbols on the other.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva (implied)
• Dakṣa
• Satī (implied by marriage context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Rigidly measuring the divine by external social categories is a form of delusion; pride distorts judgment and leads to adharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named; the verse remains within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative arc.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.