Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 56

Devanagari script

विनिमय्य जराजीर्णं देहं पार्थिवमत्र वै । प्राज्ञाः किमु न गृह्णीयुरमृतं नैर्जरं वपुः

Transliteration

vinimayya jarājīrṇaṃ dehaṃ pārthivamatra vai | prājñāḥ kimu na gṛhṇīyuramṛtaṃ nairjaraṃ vapuḥ

Translation

Ayant échangé ici ce corps terrestre, usé par la vieillesse, les sages n’accueilleraient-ils pas un corps immortel, exempt de mort ?

Word by Word

• vinimayya: having exchanged
• vinimayya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vi-ni-√mā (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभावः; धातु: मा (to measure/exchange) उपसर्ग: वि+नि; अर्थे: विनिमय/परिवर्तन (having exchanged)

• jarā-jīrṇam: worn out by old age
• jarā-jīrṇam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jarā (प्रातिपदिक) + jīrṇa (कृदन्त, √jṛ/√jṝ)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः—‘जरया जीर्णम्’ (worn out by old age)

• deham: body
• deham: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• pārthivam: earthly
• pārthivam: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier of deham)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pārthiva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; ‘पृथिव्याः’ इति—earthly/material

• atra: here
• atra: Deśa-adhikaraṇa (Locative setting)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक (locative adverb)

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha-bodhaka (Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, निश्चयार्थक/उपपद (emphatic particle)

• prājñāḥ: the wise (people)
• prājñāḥ: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prājña (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), बहुवचन

• kim: why?/what (then)
• kim: Prashna (Interrogative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययप्रयोग (interrogative particle)

• u: indeed/then
• u: Prashna (Interrogative nuance)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: u (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, प्रश्न/सम्भावनार्थक निपात (enclitic particle)

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

• gṛhṇīyuḥ: would accept/take
• gṛhṇīyuḥ: Kriyā (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √grah (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; धातु: ग्रह् (to take/accept)

• amṛtam: immortal
• amṛtam: Karma (Object)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: amṛta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• nairjaram: undecaying
• nairjaram: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier of vapuḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nairjara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; ‘निर्जर’ (free from decay/aging)

• vapuḥ: body/form
• vapuḥ: Karma (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vapus (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

Speaker

Narrative voice within the chapter (contextually Viṣṇu’s discourse)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Assemblage of sages (naimiṣāraṇya frame) / in-text interlocutor of Kāśī-māhātmya

Visual Art Cues

Scene: An aged pilgrim in Kāśī, near the Gaṅgā ghāṭs, calmly relinquishes the worn body as a luminous, youthful, deathless form rises—Śiva’s grace implied by a subtle liṅga/triśūla aura and the city’s sacred skyline.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The wise prefer liberation’s imperishable state over clinging to an aging, perishable body—especially in the sanctified context of Kāśī.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī, implied as the ‘here’ where the exchange into an imperishable condition is promised.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicit; the teaching is doctrinal—mokṣa as an imperishable state gained through the sanctity of place.