Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 96

Devanagari script

अरुद्ररुद्राक्षफणींद्रभूषणास्त्रिपुंड्रचंद्रार्धधराधरागताः । निरंतरं काशिनिवासिनोजना गिरींद्रजे पारिषदा मता मम

Transliteration

arudrarudrākṣaphaṇīṃdrabhūṣaṇāstripuṃḍracaṃdrārdhadharādharāgatāḥ | niraṃtaraṃ kāśinivāsinojanā girīṃdraje pāriṣadā matā mama

Translation

Ô fille du Seigneur des Montagnes, ceux qui demeurent sans relâche à Kāśī—ornés de grains de Rudrākṣa et de parures du roi des serpents, marqués des trois lignes sacrées de cendre et portant le croissant de lune—doivent, selon moi, être tenus pour les propres serviteurs de Śiva (pāriṣadas).

Word by Word

• a-rudra-rudrākṣa-phaṇīndra-bhūṣaṇāḥ: those adorned with rudrākṣa and serpent-lord ornaments
• a-rudra-rudrākṣa-phaṇīndra-bhūṣaṇāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: a- (नञ्) + rudra (रुद्र) + rudrākṣa (रुद्राक्ष) + phaṇīndra (फणीन्द्र) + bhūṣaṇa (भूषण)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहि: ‘ये रुद्रं न (अ) रुद्रं, रुद्राक्ष-फणीन्द्र-भूषणं यस्य’ इति—अर्थतः ‘रुद्राक्ष-नागेन्द्र-भूषणधारिणः’ (epithet)

• tri-puṇḍra-caṃdra-ardha-dhara-adhara-gatāḥ: those bearing the triple mark and the half-moon (as Śaiva insignia)
• tri-puṇḍra-caṃdra-ardha-dhara-adhara-gatāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tri (त्रि) + puṇḍra (पुण्ड्र) + caṃdra (चन्द्र) + ardha (अर्ध) + dhara (धर) + adhara (अधर) + gata (गम् धातु, क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहि: ‘त्रिपुण्ड्रं च चन्द्रार्धं च धारयन्ति, (तद्) अधरं/अधरे गतं येषाम्’—शैव-लक्षणयुक्ताः (epithet)

• niraṃtaram: continuously
• niraṃtaram: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: niraṃtaram (अव्यय/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Form: काल/प्रकारवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: continuously)

• kāśi-nivāsinaḥ: residents of Kāśī
• kāśi-nivāsinaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (काशी) + nivāsin (निवासिन् प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘काश्यां निवसन्ति’

• janāḥ: people
• janāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jana (जन प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• girīndraje: O daughter of the mountain-king
• girīndraje: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: girīndrajā (गिरीन्द्रजा प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• pāriṣadāḥ: attendants (of Śiva)
• pāriṣadāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāriṣada (पारिषद प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• matāḥ: considered (as)
• matāḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mata (मन् धातु, क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; विशेषण (qualifying pāriṣadāḥ); ‘considered/held to be’

• mama: of me/my
• mama: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद् सर्वनाम)
• Form: षष्ठी (Genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

Speaker

Śiva (deduced from address to Girīndrajā/Pārvatī and Śaiva insignia context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Girijā/Pārvatī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Kāśī residents as radiant Śaiva devotees: rudrākṣa garlands, tripuṇḍra ash-lines, crescent-moon emblems, serpent ornaments—standing like Śiva’s gaṇas around a liṅga in the city’s sacred lanes.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• Girīndrajā (Pārvatī)
• Śiva (implied by pāriṣada and Śaiva marks)
• Rudrākṣa
• Tripuṇḍra
• Candra (crescent moon)
• Phaṇīndra (serpent-king)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Unbroken devotion expressed through life in Kāśī and Śaiva conduct (rudrākṣa, tripuṇḍra, Śiva-identification) elevates an ordinary person to the status of Śiva’s own attendant.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), praised as a supreme Śaiva sacred geography where continuous residence itself is a mark of divine proximity.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific dāna/snānā/japa is prescribed in this verse; it emphasizes Śaiva identifiers and steadfast residence in Kāśī as the defining observance.