Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 56

Devanagari script

मांसाशिनः पुरोडाशे नैवान्यत्र कदाचन । न दुरोदरिणो यत्र नाधमर्णा न तस्कराः

Transliteration

māṃsāśinaḥ puroḍāśe naivānyatra kadācana | na durodariṇo yatra nādhamarṇā na taskarāḥ

Translation

Les mangeurs de viande ne se rencontrent qu’à l’occasion de l’offrande de puroḍāśa, jamais autrement. En ce pays, point de joueurs, point de débiteurs infâmes, point de voleurs.

Word by Word

• māṃsa-āśinaḥ: meat-eaters
• māṃsa-āśinaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māṃsa (प्रातिपदिक) + √aś (धातु) + in (प्रत्यय) → āśin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• puroḍāśe: in/at the puroḍāśa (offering/food)
• puroḍāśe: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puroḍāśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• eva: indeed/just
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• anyatra: elsewhere
• anyatra: Adhikaraṇa (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anyatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देश/स्थान-अव्यय (adverb: elsewhere)

• kadācana: ever/at any time
• kadācana: Kāla (Time/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kadācana (अव्यय)
• Form: काल-अव्यय (adverb: ever/at any time)

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• dur-odariṇaḥ: gluttons/people of bad belly (voracious)
• dur-odariṇaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dur (अव्यय-उपसर्ग/पूर्वपद) + udara (प्रातिपदिक) + in (प्रत्यय) → odarin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्ध/स्थान-अव्यय (relative adverb: where)

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• adhama-arṇāḥ: base debtors/low borrowers
• adhama-arṇāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adhama (प्रातिपदिक) + arṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• taskarāḥ: thieves
• taskarāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: taskara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrim-audience / ṛṣi assembly

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A clean, orderly Kāśī street near a temple: merchants honest, no dice-game corners, no thieves lurking; a small Vedic altar scene indicates ritual food-offering boundaries; the city appears safe and luminous.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• puroḍāśa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A holy realm is marked by restraint and ethical purity—freedom from vice, exploitation, and crime.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is praised as a city where dharma naturally prevails in social life.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse alludes to Vedic offerings (puroḍāśa) as the proper ritual context, contrasting it with ordinary indulgence.