Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 79

Devanagari script

यः काशीं संपरित्यज्य गच्छेदन्यत्र दुर्मतिः । तस्य हस्ततलाद्गच्छेच्चतुर्वर्गफलोदयः

Transliteration

yaḥ kāśīṃ saṃparityajya gacchedanyatra durmatiḥ | tasya hastatalādgaccheccaturvargaphalodayaḥ

Translation

L’homme à l’esprit mauvais qui abandonne Kāśī et s’en va ailleurs—de la paume de sa main s’échappe l’éclosion du fruit des quatre buts de la vie.

Word by Word

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• kāśīm: Kāśī
• kāśīm: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• saṃparityajya: having wholly abandoned
• saṃparityajya: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sam + pari + √tyaj (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभाव; ‘having completely abandoned’

• gacchet: should go
• gacchet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √gam (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• anyatra: elsewhere
• anyatra: Desha-adhikarana (Place adverbial/देशाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anyatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (locative adverb)

• durmatiḥ: a wicked-minded person
• durmatiḥ: Pratipādya (Predicate nominal/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: durmati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• tasya: of him
• tasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• hasta-talāt: from the palm of the hand
• hasta-talāt: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hasta (प्रातिपदिक) + tala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (hastasya talaṃ)

• gacchet: would depart
• gacchet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √gam (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• catur-varga-phala-udayaḥ: the arising of the fruits of the four aims (dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa)
• catur-varga-phala-udayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: catur (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + varga (प्रातिपदिक) + phala (प्रातिपदिक) + udaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (caturṇāṃ vargāṇāṃ phalānām udayaḥ)

Speaker

Skanda (contextual attribution for Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogues)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A hand holding four symbolic fruits (scroll for dharma, coin for artha, flower for kāma, flame/lotus-light for mokṣa) slipping away as the person walks away from Kāśī’s ghats; Kāśī remains luminous behind.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Caturvarga (dharma-artha-kāma-mokṣa)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is portrayed as a rare place where all human aims mature; abandoning it causes those attainments to slip away.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), associated with fulfilling the caturvarga.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse gives a warning against leaving Kāśī.