Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 70

Devanagari script

वापीकूपतडागानि कुल्याः पुष्करिणीर्बहु । एकस्मिन्क्वापि सरसि जलक्रीडापरायणान्

Transliteration

vāpīkūpataḍāgāni kulyāḥ puṣkariṇīrbahu | ekasminkvāpi sarasi jalakrīḍāparāyaṇān

Translation

Il vit des puits, des puits à degrés, des étangs, des canaux et de nombreux bassins de lotus; et, dans un lac en particulier, il remarqua des êtres tout entiers absorbés dans le jeu joyeux de l’eau.

Word by Word

• वापी-कूप-तडागानि: wells, stepwells, and tanks
• वापी-कूप-तडागानि: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वापी (प्रातिपदिक) + कूप (प्रातिपदिक) + तडाग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन (समाहार-द्वन्द्व)

• कुल्याः: canals/channels
• कुल्याः: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुल्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• पुष्करिणीः: lotus-ponds
• पुष्करिणीः: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुष्करिणी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• बहु: in abundance/many
• बहु: Visheshana (Qualifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: बहु (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययवत्)
• Form: अव्ययप्रयोग (adverbial), परिमाणवाचक

• एकस्मिन्: in one
• एकस्मिन्: Adhikarana (Location)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• क्वापि: somewhere
• क्वापि: Adhikarana (Location)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्व (अव्यय) + अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययसमूहः (indefinite adverb)

• सरसि: in a lake
• सरसि: Adhikarana (Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सरस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• जल-क्रीडा-परायणान्: devoted to playing in water
• जल-क्रीडा-परायणान्: Karma (Object)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जल (प्रातिपदिक) + क्रीडा (प्रातिपदिक) + परायण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (परायण = आसक्त/निरत)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Unnamed pushkariṇī/saras (representative of Kāśī’s many water-tīrthas)

Type: kund

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A detailed sacred city-water map: stepwells and wells, rectangular tanks with lotus blooms, narrow canals, and a prominent lake where beings joyfully play in the water.

Characters & Entities

• Saras (lake)
• Puṣkariṇī (sacred tank)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Holy geography is mapped through waters—tanks, wells, and lakes—signaling places where merit (puṇya) and divine presence are accessible.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A particular lake is introduced within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative, but it is not named in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the verse sets up the scene of water activity that later connects to snāna and sacred encounters.