Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 42

Devanagari script

काशीस्थितानि तीर्थानि मुने यांति न कुत्रचित् । यदि यांति तदा यांति तीर्थत्रयमनुत्तमम्

Transliteration

kāśīsthitāni tīrthāni mune yāṃti na kutracit | yadi yāṃti tadā yāṃti tīrthatrayamanuttamam

Translation

Oh sabio, los tīrthas que moran en Kāśī no van a ninguna parte. Y si alguna vez van, entonces van sólo al insuperable triple tīrtha.

Word by Word

• काशी-स्थितानि: situated in Kāśī
• काशी-स्थितानि: कर्तृ-विशेषण (Qualifier of subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक) + स्थित (स्था-धातु, क्त-प्रत्यय; कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि/भूतभावे; विशेषण

• तीर्थानि: pilgrimage places
• तीर्थानि: कर्ता (Karta/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• मुने: O sage
• मुने: सम्बोधन (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• यान्ति: go
• यान्ति: क्रिया (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• न: not
• न: सम्बन्ध (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात (negation particle)

• कुत्रचित्: anywhere
• कुत्रचित्: क्रिया-विशेषण (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कुत्र (अव्यय) + चित् (अव्यय-प्रत्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अनिश्चित-स्थानवाचक (indefinite adverb of place)

• यदि: if
• यदि: सम्बन्ध (Condition marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; शर्तार्थक (conditional conjunction)

• यान्ति: go
• यान्ति: क्रिया (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• तदा: then
• तदा: क्रिया-विशेषण (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक (then)

• यान्ति: go
• यान्ति: क्रिया (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• तीर्थ-त्रयम्: the set of three tīrthas
• तीर्थ-त्रयम्: कर्म/कर्ता (Contextual: what they go to)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक) + त्रय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (numerical compound)

• अनुत्तमम्: unsurpassed
• अनुत्तमम्: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनुत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; विशेषण

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Muni (sage)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A serene vision of Kāśī as an unmoving sacred mandala: ghāṭs, temples, and luminous tīrtha-presences standing firm while other tīrthas elsewhere are imagined as mobile.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Tīrthas
• Tīrtha-traya (three supreme tīrthas)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is portrayed as uniquely stable and supreme in sanctity—its tīrthas are not subordinate to other places.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) and its resident tīrthas; it also alludes to an ‘unsurpassed triad of tīrthas’ without naming them in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; it states a doctrine of tīrtha hierarchy and Kāśī’s exceptional status.