Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 166

Devanagari script

पुर्यां यक्षेश्वराणां ते स्वरूपमिति वर्णितम् । यच्छ्रुत्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो नरो मुच्येदसंशयम्

Transliteration

puryāṃ yakṣeśvarāṇāṃ te svarūpamiti varṇitam | yacchrutvā sarvapāpebhyo naro mucyedasaṃśayam

Translation

Ainsi t’a été décrite la véritable nature des Yakṣeśvaras dans cette cité sacrée. En l’entendant, l’homme est délivré de tous les péchés, sans aucun doute.

Word by Word

• puryām: in the city
• puryām: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: purī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; Locative singular

• yakṣeśvarāṇām: of the lords of the Yakṣas
• yakṣeśvarāṇām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yakṣa + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; Genitive plural; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (yakṣāṇām īśvarāḥ)

• te: of you / your
• te: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; Genitive singular (enclitic)

• svarūpam: true form, nature
• svarūpam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva + rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; Nominative/Accusative singular; कर्मधारय (svaṃ rūpam)

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Discourse marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: इति-शब्दः; quotative particle (वाक्यसमाप्ति/उद्धरणसूचक)

• varṇitam: has been described
• varṇitam: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √varṇ (वर्ण्) + kta (क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्ययान्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; past passive participle; ‘described’

• yat: which
• yat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; Accusative singular; relative pronoun

• śrutvā: having heard
• śrutvā: Kriya (Gerundial action/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śru (श्रु) + ktvā (क्त्वा)
• Form: अव्ययकृदन्त (क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त); gerund/absolutive; ‘having heard’

• sarvapāpebhyaḥ: from all sins
• sarvapāpebhyaḥ: Apādāna (Source/Ablation/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), बहुवचन; Ablative plural; कर्मधारय (sarvāṇi pāpāni)

• naraḥ: a man
• naraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; Nominative singular

• mucyet: would be freed
• mucyet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √muc (मुच्)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative/विधिलिङ्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद-प्रयोगः (मध्य/आत्मनेपद)

• asaṃśayam: without doubt
• asaṃśayam: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: a- + saṃśaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषणरूपेण अव्ययीभूतम्; adverbial accusative (नपुंसक, द्वितीया, एकवचन)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa discourse style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sacred narrator completes the description of the Yakṣeśvaras’ true nature in Kāśī; listeners sit in reverent stillness as the city’s sanctity is implied to wash away sins through hearing alone.

Characters & Entities

• Yakṣeśvara
• Kāśī (implied sacred city)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Śravaṇa (reverent hearing) of Kāśī’s sacred accounts itself becomes a purifier that destroys sin and leads toward liberation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as the sacred city where Yakṣeśvara-related greatness is recounted.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No external rite is prescribed here; the act emphasized is hearing the sacred description with faith.