Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 79

Devanagari script

प्राप्य वाराणसीं तूर्णं दृष्ट्वाथ मणिकर्णिकाम् । तत्याज तापत्रितयमपिजन्मशतार्जितम्

Transliteration

prāpya vārāṇasīṃ tūrṇaṃ dṛṣṭvātha maṇikarṇikām | tatyāja tāpatritayamapijanmaśatārjitam

Translation

Parvenu promptement à Vārāṇasī et ayant contemplé Maṇikarṇikā, il rejeta les trois sortes de souffrances, bien qu’amassées au fil de centaines de naissances.

Word by Word

• प्राप्य: having reached
• प्राप्य: Kriya (पूर्वकर्म/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-आप् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), परस्मैपदी-धातु; अर्थः—‘प्राप्य’ = having reached

• वाराणसीम्: Vārāṇasī
• वाराणसीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाराणसी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), एकवचन

• तूर्णम्: quickly
• तूर्णम्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तूर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण/adverb)

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• दृष्ट्वा: Kriya (पूर्वकर्म/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund); अर्थः—having seen

• अथ: then
• अथ: Sambandha (Discourse marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (सम्बन्ध/अनन्तरता सूचक particle)

• मणिकर्णिकाम्: Maṇikarṇikā (ghāṭ/holy place)
• मणिकर्णिकाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मणिकर्णिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), एकवचन

• तत्याज: abandoned / gave up
• तत्याज: Kriya (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• तापत्रितयम्: the threefold suffering
• तापत्रितयम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ताप + त्रितय (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), एकवचन; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘तापानां त्रितयम्’)

• अपि: even / also
• अपि: Sambandha (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय/अपि = also/even)

• जन्मशतार्जितम्: acquired over a hundred births
• जन्मशतार्जितम्: Visheshana (Qualifier of तापत्रितयम्)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जन्मशत + अर्जित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘अर्जित’ = क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle) from √अर्ज्; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘जन्मशतेन अर्जितम्’/‘जन्मशतानाम् अर्जितम्’)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa context: Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā (Kāśī)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A weary pilgrim arrives swiftly at Kāśī; at the sight of Maṇikarṇikā on the Gaṅgā, a subtle aura lifts from him—symbolizing the falling away of the threefold sufferings.

Characters & Entities

• Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)
• Maṇikarṇikā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is portrayed as a liberating sacred geography where even deep, karmically rooted suffering (tāpa-traya) dissolves upon true darśana.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Maṇikarṇikā in Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), famed in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa as a supreme purifying and liberating tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is commanded here; the emphasis is on the merit of arrival and darśana (seeing) of Maṇikarṇikā.