Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

वर्षं कृत्वोपवासानि लभेदन्यत्र यद्व्रती । तत्फलं स्यात्त्रिरात्रेण काश्यामविकलं मुने

Transliteration

varṣaṃ kṛtvopavāsāni labhedanyatra yadvratī | tatphalaṃ syāttrirātreṇa kāśyāmavikalaṃ mune

Translation

Oh sabio, el fruto que un practicante de voto obtiene en otros lugares ayunando durante un año entero, ese mérito pleno se logra en Kāśī con solo tres noches de ayuno.

Word by Word

• varṣam: for a year
• varṣam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन; कालावधि (duration)

• kṛtvā: having performed
• kṛtvā: Sambandha (Conjunctive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund/absolutive): ‘having done’

• upavāsāni: fasts
• upavāsāni: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: upavāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), बहुवचन

• labhet: would obtain
• labhet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: labh (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन

• anyatra: elsewhere
• anyatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anyatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देश/विषय-अव्यय (adverb: elsewhere)

• yat: which (result)
• yat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन; अन्वयः ‘यत् (फलम्)’

• vratī: a vow-observer
• vratī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vratin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन

• tat-phalam: that very fruit
• tat-phalam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + phala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन; कर्मधारय: ‘तत् एव फलम्’

• syāt: would be
• syāt: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन

• trirātreṇa: by (just) three nights
• trirātreṇa: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tri-rātra (प्रातिपदिक; त्रि + रात्र)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास

• kāśyām: in Kāśī
• kāśyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन

• avikalam: undiminished/complete
• avikalam: Karta (Subject-complement/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-vikala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन; नञ्-समास/उपसर्ग: ‘विकल’ (deficient) → ‘अविकल’ (undiminished)

• mune: O sage
• mune: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muni (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (contextual attribution within Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogues)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: muni (addressed as ‘mune’)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Three consecutive nights of fasting in Kāśī: devotees seated on ghāṭ steps with lamps, listening to Śiva-kathā, then offering at a liṅga shrine before dawn.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Vrata
• Upavāsa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The sanctity of Kāśī accelerates spiritual results: short observances there equal long austerities elsewhere.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), upheld as a place where dharma-practices bear swift, full fruit.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Trirātra-upavāsa—fasting/observance for three nights while in Kāśī.