Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 79

Devanagari script

कालकूटे च गरदं कूटसाक्ष्याभिवादिनम् । मानकूटं तुलाकूटं कंठमोटे निपातय

Transliteration

kālakūṭe ca garadaṃ kūṭasākṣyābhivādinam | mānakūṭaṃ tulākūṭaṃ kaṃṭhamoṭe nipātaya

Translation

Jetez dans le Kalakuta l'empoisonneur et celui qui fait un faux témoignage. Et précipitez dans le Manakuta, le Tulakuta et le Kanthamota ceux qui trichent sur les mesures et les poids.

Word by Word

• कालकूटे: in Kālakūṭa (hell)
• कालकूटे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल + कूट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (कालस्य कूटः / कालकूट-नामकः नरकः)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय

• गरदम्: poisoner / one dealing in poison
• गरदम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गरद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• कूटसाक्ष्याभिवादिनम्: one who gives/utters false testimony
• कूटसाक्ष्याभिवादिनम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कूट + साक्ष्य + अभिवादिन् (प्रातिपदिक; अभिवादिन् = वद्-धातुज कृत्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (कूटं साक्ष्यं यस्य/कूटसाक्ष्यं अभिवदति इति)

• मानकूटम्: (to) Mānakūṭa (hell)
• मानकूटम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मान + कूट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (मानस्य कूटम् / ‘false weights/measures’ hell-name)

• तुलाकूटम्: (to) Tulākūṭa (hell)
• तुलाकूटम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तुला + कूट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (तुलायाः कूटम् / ‘false balance’ hell-name)

• कंठमोटे: in Kaṇṭhamoṭa (hell)
• कंठमोटे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कण्ठ + मोट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (कण्ठस्य मोटः / कंठमोट-नामकः नरकः)

• निपातय: cast down
• निपातय: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि + पत् (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार, मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्; णिच्-प्रयोगः (causative) ‘cause to fall’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa, Skanda → Agastya dialogue context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Infernal tribunal imagery: a poisoner and perjurer dragged toward a dark cauldron-like abyss (Kālakūṭa); nearby, merchants with false scales and measures are hurled into separate pits labeled Mānakūṭa, Tulākūṭa, Kaṇṭhamoṭa, with broken balances and measuring rods scattered.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Kāśī
• Naraka
• Kālakūṭa
• Mānakūṭa
• Tulākūṭa
• Kaṇṭhamoṭa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Satya (truthfulness) and fairness in commerce are dharmic pillars; poisoning, perjury, and fraud corrode society and bring painful karmic results.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage belongs to the Kāśī Khaṇḍa’s dharma instruction; it does not single out a particular tirtha in these lines.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is an ethical injunction framed through naraka consequences.