Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 32

Devanagari script

सदा मदं परित्यज्य प्रमादैकपदप्रदम् । प्रमादैकशरण्यं च संपदां विनिवर्तकम्

Transliteration

sadā madaṃ parityajya pramādaikapadapradam | pramādaikaśaraṇyaṃ ca saṃpadāṃ vinivartakam

Translation

Renonce toujours à l’orgueil et à l’ivresse, car l’insouciance est l’unique porte de la chute; elle est le seul refuge de la ruine et la force qui renverse la prospérité en perte.

Word by Word

• सदा: always
• सदा: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (Time adjunct/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सदा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण) — indeclinable adverb of time

• मदम्: pride, intoxication
• मदम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Masculine, Accusative (2nd), Singular

• परित्यज्य: having abandoned
• परित्यज्य: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Converb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि-त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (अव्ययकृदन्त), ‘having abandoned’; परस्मैपदी — Gerund (absolutive) from √त्यज् with उपसर्ग परि

• प्रमाद-एक-पद-प्रदम्: that which gives a single step/footing to negligence
• प्रमाद-एक-पद-प्रदम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रमाद (प्रातिपदिक) + एक (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक) + पद (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Neuter, Accusative (2nd), Singular; समासः: तत्पुरुष (निर्देश/षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषभावः) ‘प्रमादस्य एकं पदं प्रददाति इति’

• प्रमाद-एक-शरण्यम्: having negligence as its sole refuge
• प्रमाद-एक-शरण्यम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रमाद (प्रातिपदिक) + एक (प्रातिपदिक) + शरण्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन — Neuter, Accusative (2nd), Singular; समासः: तत्पुरुष ‘प्रमाद एव शरणं यस्य/यत्र’ (एक-शरण्य = having only one refuge)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक) — conjunction

• संपदाम्: of prosperities/fortunes
• संपदाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संपद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन — Feminine, Genitive (6th), Plural

• विनिवर्तकम्: that which drives away/turns back
• विनिवर्तकम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि-नि-वृत् (धातु) + क (प्रत्यय)
• Form: ण्वुल्/क-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (कर्तरि/हेतौ), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन — agentive/causative-noun ‘that which turns back’; Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A dvija/śiṣya figure addressed in the passage’s didactic frame

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim in Kāśī stands at a ghat at dawn, pouring out a symbolic vessel labeled ‘mada’ into the Gaṅgā, while a shadow-figure ‘pramāda’ lurks behind; the rising sun signifies regained vigilance.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pride breeds heedlessness, and heedlessness reverses fortune; vigilance and humility protect dharma and well-being.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse is ethical instruction within the Kāśī-khaṇḍa; the broader chapter culminates in the greatness of Kāśī, though this line itself is not naming a tirtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual is prescribed here; it gives a moral discipline: renouncing mada (pride) and pramāda (heedlessness).