Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 62

Devanagari script

स्वधर्मविच्युतः काशीं यथा तूर्णं त्यजेन्नृपः । तथोपचरत प्राज्ञा योगमायाबलान्विताः

Transliteration

svadharmavicyutaḥ kāśīṃ yathā tūrṇaṃ tyajennṛpaḥ | tathopacarata prājñā yogamāyābalānvitāḥ

Translation

Agissez ainsi, ô sages, fortifiées par la puissance de la māyā yogique, afin que le roi, déchu de son propre dharma, abandonne promptement Kāśī.

Word by Word

• स्वधर्मविच्युतः: fallen from his own duty
• स्वधर्मविच्युतः: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्व + धर्म + विच्युत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); एकवचन; विशेषण (नृपः); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (स्वधर्मात् विच्युतः)

• काशीम्: Kāśī
• काशीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative); एकवचन

• यथा: as, just as
• यथा: Sambandha (Comparative connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमान/प्रकारवाचक (comparative: as, just as)

• तूर्णम्: quickly
• तूर्णम्: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तूर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (adverb: quickly)

• त्यजेत्: should abandon
• त्यजेत्: Kriyā (Main verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative); प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person); एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• नृपः: the king
• नृपः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); एकवचन

• तथा: thus, in the same way
• तथा: Sambandha (Correlative connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; तदनुरूप/एवम् (thus, in that manner)

• उपचरत: attend to, act toward
• उपचरत: Kriyā (Main verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: उप+चर् (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative); मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person); बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• प्राज्ञाः: O wise ones
• प्राज्ञाः: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन; सम्बोधनार्थे अपि (addressing sense: O wise ones)

• योगमायाबलान्विताः: endowed with the power of Yogamāyā
• योगमायाबलान्विताः: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: योगमाया + बल + अन्वित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/Nominative); बहुवचन; विशेषण (योगिन्यः); तत्पुरुष (योगमायायाः बलेन अन्विताः)

Speaker

Śiva (instructing the Yoginīs)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣi audience (frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Yoginīs, empowered by yogic māyā, prepare to enact a subtle operation causing Divodāsa to slip from his dharma and leave Kāśī swiftly; an atmosphere of occult resolve rather than open battle.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Yoginīs
• Kāśī
• King Divodāsa (context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred spaces are sustained by dharma; when one abandons svadharma, one becomes unfit to remain in the highest tīrtha.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī/Vārāṇasī—depicted as a city that does not ‘hold’ those who fall from dharma.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual; it describes yogamāyā as a divine instrument to bring about a moral outcome.