Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 96

Devanagari script

अवगंतुं हि शक्येत यूनो वृद्धस्य वा शिशोः । इति श्रुत्वा वचस्तेषां सहजप्रेमनिर्भरम्

Transliteration

avagaṃtuṃ hi śakyeta yūno vṛddhasya vā śiśoḥ | iti śrutvā vacasteṣāṃ sahajapremanirbharam

Translation

Une telle chose pourrait se comprendre chez un jeune, un vieillard ou un tout petit enfant. Entendant leurs paroles, débordantes d’une affection spontanée—

Word by Word

• avagaṃtum: to understand
• avagaṃtum: Karma (Object of possibility/कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ava-√gam (धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्त (infinitive), अवगन्तुम्; अर्थः—‘to understand’

• hi: indeed/for
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle), हेत्वर्थ/निश्चयार्थक-निपात (for/indeed)

• śakyeta: could be possible
• śakyeta: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śak (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), आत्मनेपद (Ātmanepada); भावे प्रयोगः (impersonal/passive sense): ‘it could be possible’

• yūnaḥ: of a youth
• yūnaḥ: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuvan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), षष्ठी (Genitive, 6th), एकवचन (Singular)

• vṛddhasya: of an old man
• vṛddhasya: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛddha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), षष्ठी (Genitive, 6th), एकवचन (Singular)

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (disjunctive particle)

• śiśoḥ: of a child
• śiśoḥ: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śiśu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), षष्ठी (Genitive, 6th), एकवचन (Singular)

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Quotation marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (quotative particle)

• śrutvā: having heard
• śrutvā: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकाल-क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śru (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund), परस्मैपदी; ‘having heard’

• vacaḥ: the words/speech
• vacaḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vacas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• teṣām: of them
• teṣām: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), षष्ठी (Genitive, 6th), बहुवचन (Plural); सर्वनाम (pronoun)

• sahaja-prema-nirbharam: full of natural affection
• sahaja-prema-nirbharam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sahaja (प्रातिपदिक) + prema (प्रातिपदिक) + nirbhara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd), एकवचन (Singular); तत्पुरुषः—‘sahajena premṇā nirbharam’ (filled with innate love)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: (contextual interlocutors)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Affectionate elders speak gently, suggesting renunciation is understandable for youth/old age/childhood, while the child listens, poised to answer.

Characters & Entities

• sages
• Dhruva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Spiritual counsel is most effective when joined with compassion; affectionate guidance invites truthful opening of the heart.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None named; it is a narrative connective verse within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.