Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

वृंतादिव फले पक्वे तालादनिललोलिते । दंभोलिना परिहते शृंगेइव महागिरेः

Transliteration

vṛṃtādiva phale pakve tālādanilalolite | daṃbholinā parihate śṛṃgeiva mahāgireḥ

Translation

Ils tombèrent tels des fruits mûrs arrachés à leur tige par le vent dans le palmier, ou tels le sommet d’une haute montagne foudroyé et renversé.

Word by Word

• वृन्तात्: from the stalk
• वृन्तात्: Apadana (Source)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृन्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (Ablative), एकवचन

• इव: as if, like
• इव: Upamāna-marker (Simile)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (simile particle)

• फले: in/with the fruit
• फले: Adhikaraṇa (Location/condition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: फल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन

• पक्वे: ripe
• पक्वे: Adhikaraṇa (Qualifier of locative)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पक्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (फलस्य)

• तालात्: from the palm tree
• तालात्: Apadana (Source)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ताल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (Ablative), एकवचन

• अनिल-लोलिते: swayed by the wind
• अनिल-लोलिते: Adhikaraṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनिल (प्रातिपदिक) + लोलित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: 'अनिलेन लोलितम्' (swayed by wind)

• दम्भोलिना: by a thunderbolt
• दम्भोलिना: Karana (Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दम्भोलि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन

• परिहते: struck, battered
• परिहते: Adhikaraṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परि-हन् (धातु)
• Form: क्त (Past passive participle) from परि+हन्; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (शृङ्गे)

• शृङ्गे: on the peak
• शृङ्गे: Adhikaraṇa (Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शृङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन

• इव: like
• इव: Upamāna-marker (Simile)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (simile particle)

• महागिरेः: of a great mountain
• महागिरेः: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + गिरि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, षष्ठी (Genitive), एकवचन; कर्मधारय: 'महान् गिरिः'

Speaker

Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (moral-protective field)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The fallen foes are compared to ripe palm fruits shaken loose by wind and to a mountain peak shattered by a thunderbolt—two vivid natural metaphors of sudden collapse.

Characters & Entities

• Mahādevī (implied)
• Thunderbolt (daṃbhola, Indra’s vajra as simile)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Evil’s fall is natural and inevitable when dharma ripens—Devī’s power makes the collapse swift, like fruit dropping or a peak shattered.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

While the verse uses universal similes, it belongs to the Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative that praises Kāśī as divinely safeguarded.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is a poetic intensification of the demons’ defeat.