Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 19

Devanagari script

अद्रेः शृंगं सुविस्तीर्णमापतत्परिवीक्ष्य सा । शतकोटिप्रहारेण कोटिशः सकलं व्यधात्

Transliteration

adreḥ śṛṃgaṃ suvistīrṇamāpatatparivīkṣya sā | śatakoṭiprahāreṇa koṭiśaḥ sakalaṃ vyadhāt

Translation

Voyant fondre sur elle ce vaste sommet de montagne, elle le brisa tout entier, le réduisant en myriades d’éclats par des coups comptés en centaines de crores.

Word by Word

• adreḥ: of the mountain
• adreḥ: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adri (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन

• śṛṅgam: peak, summit
• śṛṅgam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śṛṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• suvistīrṇam: very broad, widely spread
• suvistīrṇam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su-vistīrṇa (प्रातिपदिक; सु + विस्तीर्ण)
• Form: क्त (PPP from √stṛ/√star ‘to spread’ in sense ‘expanded’), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन — qualifying śṛṅgam

• āpatat: was falling
• āpatat: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√pat (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (imperfect/past), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद — ‘was falling’

• parivīkṣya: having observed
• parivīkṣya: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pari-√īkṣ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund) — ‘having looked around/observed’

• sā: she
• sā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• śatakoṭiprahāreṇa: with a hundred-crore strikes
• śatakoṭiprahāreṇa: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śata-koṭi-prahāra (प्रातिपदिक; शत + कोटि + प्रहार)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन — करण: ‘with a hundred-crore blows’

• koṭiśaḥ: in crores, countless times
• koṭiśaḥ: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: koṭiśas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (परिमाणवाचक क्रियाविशेषण) — ‘in crores, by crores’

• sakalam: entire, whole
• sakalam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sakala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन — ‘the whole (thing)’

• vyadhāt: destroyed, broke apart
• vyadhāt: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-√dhā (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद — ‘disposed/arranged; shattered (contextual)’

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis / kathā-audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A colossal peak hurtles downward; Devī, unflinching, unleashes a storm of blows—so rapid they appear as a halo of motion—reducing the peak to countless shards that scatter harmlessly.

Characters & Entities

• Devī
• Durga (Daitya king)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine power is precise and decisive; what seems unstoppable is broken the moment it confronts the Goddess.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the overarching sacred context of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, while this verse highlights the Goddess’ protective prowess.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is a narrative description of the Goddess countering a mountain-weapon.