Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 28

Devanagari script

अन्यत्र योगाभ्यसनाद्यावज्जन्म यदर्ज्यते । वाराणस्यां तदेकेन प्राणायामेन लभ्यते

Transliteration

anyatra yogābhyasanādyāvajjanma yadarjyate | vārāṇasyāṃ tadekena prāṇāyāmena labhyate

Translation

Lo que en otros lugares se gana con la práctica del yoga durante toda la vida, en Vārāṇasī se obtiene con un solo prāṇāyāma, la disciplina del aliento.

Word by Word

• अन्यत्र: elsewhere
• अन्यत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (elsewhere)

• योग-अभ्यसनात्: from practicing yoga
• योग-अभ्यसनात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: योग (प्रातिपदिक) + अभ्यसन (प्रातिपदिक; √अस्/√अभ्यस्-ल्युट्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (योगस्य अभ्यसनम्) ablative ‘from/by practice of yoga’

• आदि: etc.
• आदि: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आदि (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समाहारार्थक-अव्यय (etc., and the like)

• यावत्-जन्म: throughout life
• यावत्-जन्म: Adhikarana (Time-span/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यावत् (प्रातिपदिक) + जन्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावः (यावत् + जन्म) ‘as long as life’ (adverbial span)

• यत्: that which
• यत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; relative pronoun

• अर्ज्यते: is obtained
• अर्ज्यते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √अर्ज् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive): ‘is earned/obtained’

• वाराणस्याम्: in Vārāṇasī
• वाराणस्याम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाराणसी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; demonstrative pronoun

• एकेन: by a single
• एकेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), एकवचन; ‘by one’

• प्राणायामेन: by prāṇāyāma (breath control)
• प्राणायामेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणायाम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), एकवचन

• लभ्यते: is obtained
• लभ्यते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √लभ् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive): ‘is obtained’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, typically Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Vārāṇasī (Kāśī/Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Naimiṣāraṇya sages

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A yogin seated on a Kāśī ghat performs prāṇāyāma at dawn; breath visualized as subtle light merging with the city’s Śiva-aura; temples and Gaṅgā frame the scene.

Characters & Entities

• Vārāṇasī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Vārāṇasī is depicted as a spiritually intensified field where yogic effort yields accelerated results.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Vārāṇasī/Kāśī, renowned as a liberation-oriented sacred city in the Skanda Purāṇa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Prāṇāyāma is explicitly mentioned as a recommended yogic practice whose fruit is magnified in Vārāṇasī.