Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 12

Devanagari script

अष्टाग्निहोमिका तद्वद्वाजपेयशतोद्भवा । इत्याद्यप्सरसां श्रेष्ठं सहस्रं षष्टिसंमितम्

Transliteration

aṣṭāgnihomikā tadvadvājapeyaśatodbhavā | ityādyapsarasāṃ śreṣṭhaṃ sahasraṃ ṣaṣṭisaṃmitam

Translation

Aṣṭāgnihomikā, et de même Vājapeyaśatodbhavā — et ainsi de suite. Les plus éminentes des Apsarās sont au nombre de mille soixante.

Word by Word

• अष्टाग्निहोमिका: connected with the eight-fire homa
• अष्टाग्निहोमिका: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्ट (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक) + होम (प्रातिपदिक) + -इका (तद्धित)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (eight + fire-offering)

• तद्वत्: likewise
• तद्वत्: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद्वत् (अव्यय/तुलनार्थक)
• Form: अव्यय; तुलनार्थे (like that/in the same way)

• वाजपेयशतोद्भवा: born of (i.e., resulting from) a hundred Vājapeya rites
• वाजपेयशतोद्भवा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वाजपेय (प्रातिपदिक) + शत (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + उद्भव (प्रातिपदिक; √भू धातु)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (arisen from/connected with a hundred Vājapeyas)

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उद्धरण/समाप्त्यर्थक (quotative/thus)

• आदि: and the rest/and so on
• आदि: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘etc./beginning’ अर्थे (here used with iti: ‘and so on’)

• अप्सरसाम्: of the apsarases
• अप्सरसाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अप्सरस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• श्रेष्ठम्: best/excellent
• श्रेष्ठम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्रेष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying ‘sahasram’)

• सहस्रम्: a thousand
• सहस्रम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; संख्यावाचक-नाम

• षष्टिसंमितम्: amounting to sixty (i.e., 1060)
• षष्टिसंमितम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षष्टि (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + संमित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √मा धातु, सम्-उपसर्ग; past participle)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (measured/amounting to sixty)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A celestial register being proclaimed: apsarās associated with sacred fires and Vājapeya appear amid stylized yajña-kuṇḍas and golden ladles; the scene widens to show a multitude—‘one thousand and sixty’—like a galaxy of figures.

Characters & Entities

• Aṣṭāgnihomikā
• Vājapeya
• Apsarāḥ

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇas often teach through enumeration: the ordered count highlights that even celestial realms operate under measure, hierarchy, and dharmic structure.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is mentioned in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No prescription; the verse references Vedic rites (agnihoma, vājapeya) as name-epithets and gives a total count of chief Apsarās.