Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 45

Devanagari script

यथा प्रयाति शिशुता कौमारं च यथा गतम् । सत्वरं गत्वरं तद्वद्यौवनं चापि वार्धकम

Transliteration

yathā prayāti śiśutā kaumāraṃ ca yathā gatam | satvaraṃ gatvaraṃ tadvadyauvanaṃ cāpi vārdhakama

Translation

De même que la petite enfance passe vite à l’enfance, et que l’enfance s’en va promptement, ainsi la jeunesse se hâte, et la vieillesse la suit de près.

Word by Word

• yathā: just as
• yathā: Sambandha (Comparative/Relation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमानार्थक-अव्यय (comparative/illustrative indeclinable: “just as”)

• prayāti: goes/attains
• prayāti: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra√yā (धातु: या)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular); परस्मैपद

• śiśutā: infancy/childhood
• śiśutā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śiśutā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• kaumāram: boyhood
• kaumāram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kaumāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक-निपात (conjunction)

• yathā: just as
• yathā: Sambandha (Comparative/Relation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमानार्थक-अव्यय (comparative/illustrative)

• gatam: gone/attained
• gatam: Kriya (Predicative/State)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √gam (धातु: गम्) + gata (कृत)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; “gone/attained” (used predicatively)

• satvaram: quickly
• satvaram: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: satvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; क्रियाविशेषणवत् (adverbially: “quickly”)

• gatvaram: swiftly
• gatvaram: Kriya-viśeṣaṇa (Adverbial qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: gatvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; क्रियाविशेषणवत् (adverbially: “swiftly”)

• tadvat: in the same way
• tadvat: Sambandha (Comparative/Relation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadvat (अव्यय/तद्धित)
• Form: अव्यय; तद्वत्-प्रत्ययान्त (like that, in the same way)

• yauvanam: youth
• yauvanam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yauvana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (contextually: subject or object of implied ‘goes’)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक-निपात

• api: also
• api: Sambandha (Emphasis/Addition)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अपि-निपात (also/even)

• vārdhakam: old age
• vārdhakam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vārdhaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa typically Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Agastya (addressed elsewhere in this unit as kalśodbhava in v.47)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: An allegorical procession of life-stages: infant to child to youth to elder, each fading like a shadow, with Kāśī’s ghāṭs and the spire of Viśvanātha in the background as the stable refuge amid time’s flow.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Human life-stages pass rapidly; therefore one should not delay in turning toward dharma and liberation-oriented living.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) is the implied sacred goal in this Adhyāya’s context, urging timely refuge in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific rite is stated here; the verse functions as a warning about time and aging.