Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 7

Devanagari script

तिस्रोपि हि त्रिसंध्यं ताः सरितः कुंभपाणयः । स्नपयंति महाधाम लिंगं त्रैविष्टपं महत्

Transliteration

tisropi hi trisaṃdhyaṃ tāḥ saritaḥ kuṃbhapāṇayaḥ | snapayaṃti mahādhāma liṃgaṃ traiviṣṭapaṃ mahat

Translation

En vérité, ces trois rivières—tenant des cruches en leurs mains—baignent aux trois sandhyā (aube, midi et crépuscule) le grand Liṅga de Traviṣṭapa, puissant emblème de Śiva et demeure suprême.

Word by Word

• tisraḥ: three
• tisraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural); संख्याविशेषण (numeral adjective)

• api: also, even
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle), ‘also/even’

• hi: indeed, for
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (emphatic/causal particle)

• tri-saṃdhyam: at the three twilight-times (thrice daily)
• tri-saṃdhyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃdhyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular); समासः—तत्पुरुष (संख्यापूर्वक)

• tāḥ: those (they)
• tāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural); सर्वनाम

• saritaḥ: rivers
• saritaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarit (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)

• kuṃbha-pāṇayaḥ: (those) having pitchers in their hands
• kuṃbha-pāṇayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kuṃbha (प्रातिपदिक) + pāṇi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural); बहुव्रीहि—‘कुंभः पाणौ येषाम्’

• snapayanti: they bathe (wash)
• snapayanti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √snap (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन (Plural); causative sense ‘to bathe/wash’

• mahā-dhāma: the great abode (glorious)
• mahā-dhāma: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + dhāman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular); कर्मधारय—‘महच्च तत् धाम’

• liṅgam: liṅga (Śiva-emblem)
• liṅgam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: liṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• traiviṣṭapam: heavenly, belonging to the three heavens
• traiviṣṭapam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक) + viṣṭapa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular); तत्पुरुष—‘त्रयाणां विष्टपानां (स्वर्गाणां) सम्बन्धि’

• mahat: great
• mahat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśī Khaṇḍa context, Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Triviṣṭapa Liṅga (within Kāśīkṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Three personified rivers as divine women/attendants, each holding a kumbha, circling a radiant Śiva-liṅga; the sky shifts through dawn, noon, and dusk in one composite scene; bells, lamps, and flowing water form a halo around the emblem.

Characters & Entities

• Triviṣṭapa Liṅga
• three rivers (tisraḥ saritaḥ)
• Sandhyā (three daily junctions)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Daily sacred timing (sandhyā) and devotion magnify the holiness of Kāśī, where even rivers are portrayed as servants of Śiva’s Liṅga.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Triviṣṭapa/Traviṣṭapa Liṅga in Kāśī, presented as a great divine abode receiving ritual bathing.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Ablution (snāpana) of the Liṅga at the three sandhyās—dawn, noon, and dusk—highlighting time-based worship.