Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 93

Devanagari script

यथैव मरणाद्भीतिरस्मदादि वपुष्मताम् । ब्रह्मादिकीटकांतानां तथा मरणतो भयम्

Transliteration

yathaiva maraṇādbhītirasmadādi vapuṣmatām | brahmādikīṭakāṃtānāṃ tathā maraṇato bhayam

Translation

Just as the fear of death exists for embodied beings like us, so too there is fear of death for all—from Brahmā down to the tiniest insect.

Word by Word

• यथा: just as
• यथा: Sambandha (Comparative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमानवाचक (comparative particle: “as/just as”)

• एव: indeed/only
• एव: Sambandha (Emphasis/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारणार्थक-निपात (emphatic particle)

• मरणात्: from death
• मरणात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन

• भीतिः: fear
• भीतिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhīti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन

• अस्मदादि: beginning with us (i.e., all like us)
• अस्मदादि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—तत्पुरुष (अस्मदादयः = “we and others”); नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग-सम्बद्ध विशेषण; प्रथमा/द्वितीया-एकवचन रूपेण ‘वपुष्मताम्’ इत्यस्य विशेषणार्थे अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः (indeclinable-like adjectival use)

• वपुष्मताम्: of embodied beings
• वपुष्मताम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vapuṣmat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन

• ब्रह्मादि: beginning with Brahmā
• ब्रह्मादि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—तत्पुरुष (ब्रह्मादयः = “Brahmā and others”); विशेषण; षष्ठी-बहुवचन ‘कीटकान्तानाम्’ इत्यस्य विशेषण

• कीटकान्तानाम्: of those ranging up to insects
• कीटकान्तानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kīṭaka (प्रातिपदिक) + anta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—तत्पुरुष (कीटकान्ताः = “ending with insects”); पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; तद्वत्-भाववाचक (correlative adverb: “so/likewise”)

• मरणतः: from death
• मरणतः: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन (वैकल्पिक रूप ‘-तः’)

• भयम्: fear
• भयम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda instructing Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A contemplative teaching scene in Kāśī: a sage points to a procession of beings—devas, humans, animals, insects—under the shadow of Time (Kāla), indicating that fear of death touches all.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

All beings share the fear of death; this recognition becomes a strong ethical basis for compassion and non-violence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is situated in Kāśī Khaṇḍa, but it emphasizes universal dharma rather than a particular tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; it undergirds ahiṃsā as a moral vow.