Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 7

Devanagari script

क्व क्षीरनीरधौ संति तावंतो निर्मला गुणाः । यावंतो विजयं तेत्र काश्यां पंचनदे ह्रदे

Transliteration

kva kṣīranīradhau saṃti tāvaṃto nirmalā guṇāḥ | yāvaṃto vijayaṃ tetra kāśyāṃ paṃcanade hrade

Translation

Où, dans l’Océan de Lait, trouve-t-on autant de vertus sans tache que les victoires qui sont ici, à Kāśī, au lac de Pañcanada ?

Word by Word

• क्व: where?
• क्व: Desha (Location/देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्व (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्न-अव्यय (interrogative adverb of place)

• क्षीरनीरधौ: in the ocean of milk-and-water
• क्षीरनीरधौ: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षीर (प्रातिपदिक) + नीर (प्रातिपदिक) + धि/धि (प्रातिपदिक: धि/धि → धि/धौ रूपेण; 'निधि/धि' इत्यर्थे)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (क्षीर-नीरयोः धिः/निधिः = समुद्रः)

• सन्ति: are/exist
• सन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन

• तावन्तः: so many
• तावन्तः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तावत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; परिमाणवाचक-विशेषणम् (guṇāḥ)

• निर्मलाः: pure
• निर्मलाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्मल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (guṇāḥ)

• गुणाः: qualities
• गुणाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• यावन्तः: as many as
• यावन्तः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यावत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध-विशेषणम् (तावन्तः इत्यस्य प्रत्यनुयोगी)

• विजयम्: victory
• विजयम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विजय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Desha (Location/देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• काश्याम्: in Kāśī
• काश्याम्: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• पञ्चनदे: in the five-rivered (place)
• पञ्चनदे: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पञ्च (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + नद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; समासः—द्विगुः (पञ्च नद्यः यस्मिन्)

• ह्रदे: in the lake
• ह्रदे: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ह्रद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (narrator); praise voiced in the narrative by Viṣṇu (contextually continuing)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Pañcanada-hrada

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Vaikuṇṭha (addressed)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A poetic juxtaposition: the luminous Ocean of Milk in the far cosmic background, while foreground shows Kāśī’s Pañcanada-hrada with pilgrims and sages; the speaker gestures toward the lake as the true seat of countless ‘victories’.

Characters & Entities

• Kṣīrasamudra (Ocean of Milk)
• Kāśī
• Pañcanada hrada

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic praise elevates Kāśī’s tīrtha as surpassing even cosmic sacred realms, emphasizing the immediacy of grace in sacred geography.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Pañcanada hrada (the Pañcanada lake/tīrtha) in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Not explicit; the verse functions as tīrtha-stuti, implying the value of visiting and bathing/approaching the site.