Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 38

Devanagari script

न नाकलोके सुखमस्ति तादृशं कुतस्तु पातालतलेऽतिसुंदरे । वार्तापि मर्त्ये सुखसंश्रया क्व वा काश्यां हि यादृक्तनुमात्रधारिणि

Transliteration

na nākaloke sukhamasti tādṛśaṃ kutastu pātālatale'tisuṃdare | vārtāpi martye sukhasaṃśrayā kva vā kāśyāṃ hi yādṛktanumātradhāriṇi

Translation

Une telle félicité ne se trouve même pas au ciel ; à plus forte raison pas dans les très belles régions de Pātāla. Dans le monde des mortels, où donc parle-t-on d’une joie pareille à celle de Kāśī, même pour celui qui ne fait que porter un corps ?

Word by Word

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (निपात)
• Form: निषेध-निपात

• nāka-loke: in heaven
• nāka-loke: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāka (प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘नाकलोक’ = heaven-world; Locative singular

• sukham: happiness
• sukham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; here nominative singular as subject-complement

• asti: exists
• asti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (अस्) (धातु)
• Form: लट्, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• tādṛśam: such (as that)
• tādṛśam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tādṛśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; agreeing with sukham

• kutas: how then
• kutas: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kutas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (interrogative adverb) ‘whence/how then’

• tu: then/but
• tu: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (contrastive particle) ‘but/indeed’

• pātāla-tale: in the netherworld region
• pātāla-tale: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pātāla (प्रातिपदिक) + tala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘पातालतल’ = surface/region of Pātāla; Locative singular

• ati-sundare: very beautiful
• ati-sundare: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ati (अव्यय) + sundara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, एकवचन; Avyayībhāva: ‘अतिसुन्दर’ = very beautiful; agreeing with pātāla-tale

• vārtā: even mention/trace
• vārtā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vārtā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; Nominative singular

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (concessive particle) ‘even’

• martye: in the mortal world
• martye: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: martya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, एकवचन; Locative singular ‘in the mortal world’

• sukha-saṃśrayā: a refuge of happiness
• sukha-saṃśrayā: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sukha (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃśraya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘सुखसंश्रया’ = having/being a resort of happiness

• kva: where
• kva: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (interrogative adverb) ‘where?’

• vā: indeed/or
• vā: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (disjunctive/alternative particle) ‘or/indeed’

• kāśyām: in Kāśī
• kāśyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, एकवचन

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (indeed)

• yādṛk: such as (what kind)
• yādṛk: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yādṛś (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग अव्ययवत् प्रयोग (indeclinable-like relative adjective) ‘of what kind’ (qualifying tanumātra-dhāriṇi)

• tanu-mātra-dhāriṇi: where one bears only a body (mere embodiment)
• tanu-mātra-dhāriṇi: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tanu (प्रातिपदिक) + mātra (प्रातिपदिक) + dhārin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘तनुमात्रधारिणी’ = (where one is) merely body-bearing / having only a body; Locative singular agreeing with kāśyām

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A comparative tableau: on one side Indra’s svarga with apsaras and jeweled halls; below, Pātāla’s ornate beauty; at center, Kāśī’s ghāṭas with a simple pilgrim experiencing a deeper radiance of joy, outshining both realms.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Nāka (Svarga)
• Pātāla
• Martya-loka

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī’s spiritual joy is portrayed as surpassing even heavenly pleasures, accessible even to ordinary embodied people.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), praised as the highest seat of sukha and sanctity.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is comparative praise (māhātmya) of Kāśī’s unique bliss.