Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 7

Devanagari script

महाशयनसुप्तानां जंतूनां प्रतिबोधकम् । संसारसागरावर्त पतज्जंतुतरंडकम्

Transliteration

mahāśayanasuptānāṃ jaṃtūnāṃ pratibodhakam | saṃsārasāgarāvarta patajjaṃtutaraṃḍakam

Translation

Il réveille les êtres endormis sur le grand lit de l’ignorance ; il est le radeau de vie pour les créatures qui tombent dans les tourbillons de l’océan du saṃsāra.

Word by Word

• mahā-śayana-suptānām: of those asleep on the great bed
• mahā-śayana-suptānām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + śayana (प्रातिपदिक) + supta (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th case), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष (महाशयने सुप्तानाम्)

• jantūnām: of creatures
• jantūnām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jantu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th case), बहुवचन

• prati-bodhakam: awakening; that which rouses
• prati-bodhakam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prati (उपसर्ग) + budh (धातु)
• Form: ण्वुल्-प्रत्ययान्त (बोधक), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; उपसर्ग: प्रति-

• saṃsāra-sāgara-āvarta: the whirlpool of the ocean of worldly existence
• saṃsāra-sāgara-āvarta: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃsāra (प्रातिपदिक) + sāgara (प्रातिपदिक) + āvarta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd case), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (संसाररूपस्य सागरस्य आवर्तः)

• pataৎ-jantu-taraṇḍakam: a rescuer of falling beings
• pataৎ-jantu-taraṇḍakam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: patat (कृदन्त) + jantu (प्रातिपदिक) + taraṇḍaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (पततां जन्तूनां तरण्डकम् = रक्षक/उद्धारक)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (as tāraṇa-tīrtha)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic ocean of saṃsāra with whirlpools swallowing beings; a luminous raft labeled Kāśī carries them toward a shore where a temple spire and liṅga glow; sleepers on a vast bed awaken as light touches their eyes.

Characters & Entities

• Saṃsāra-sāgara (ocean of worldly existence)
• Kāśī-kṣetra (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The holy kṣetra functions as awakening wisdom and as a saving means to cross saṃsāra—spiritual geography becomes a vehicle of liberation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), implicitly praised as the liberating raft for embodied beings.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse teaches by metaphor—awakening and deliverance are attributed to the kṣetra’s sanctity.