Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 83

Devanagari script

भवांबुधौ महागाधे प्राणिनः परिमज्जतः । भूत्वैव कर्णधारोंते यत्र संतारयाम्यहम्

Transliteration

bhavāṃbudhau mahāgādhe prāṇinaḥ parimajjataḥ | bhūtvaiva karṇadhāroṃte yatra saṃtārayāmyaham

Translation

Dans l’océan immense et insondable du devenir mondain, lorsque les êtres s’enfoncent, là—à l’ultime instant—je deviens leur pilote et les fais passer sur l’autre rive.

Word by Word

• भव-अम्बुधौ: in the ocean of worldly existence
• भव-अम्बुधौ: अधिकरण (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भव (प्रातिपदिक) + अम्बुधि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (भवस्य अम्बुधौ)

• महागाधे: in the very deep (one)
• महागाधे: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महागाध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (अम्बुधौ इति)

• प्राणिनः: living beings
• प्राणिनः: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• परिमज्जतः: sinking, being submerged
• परिमज्जतः: क्रियाविशेषण/विशेषण (Participial qualifier)
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि+मज्ज् (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (Present active participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; प्राणिनः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• भूत्वा: having become
• भूत्वा: क्रियाविशेषण (Adverbial to main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive)

• एव: indeed, just
• एव: सम्बन्ध/निपात (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle/emphasis)

• कर्णधारः: helmsman, ferryman
• कर्णधारः: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्णधार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• ते: of you/your
• ते: सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन (enclitic)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: अधिकरण-सूचक (Locative indicator)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्धबोधक अव्यय (relative adverb: where)

• संतारयामि: I ferry across, I help cross
• संतारयामि: क्रिया (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्+तॄ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/लट्), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person/उत्तम), एकवचन; परस्मैपद; causative sense ‘to cause to cross’ (णिच्-प्रयोग)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (with implied Maṇikarṇikā/Antargṛha sphere)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Implied audience of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration (traditionally sages/devotees hearing the glory of Kāśī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A stormy ocean symbolizing saṃsāra; drowning beings reach out; Śiva appears as a compassionate boatman holding a rudder, guiding a small boat toward a luminous Kāśī shoreline with ghāṭas and a distant Viśvanātha spire.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (implied)
• Saṃsāra (bhava)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Divine guidance is promised at life’s end: the Lord becomes the helmsman to deliver the soul from saṃsāra.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse implies Kāśī as the place where this end-time deliverance is especially assured, though it is not named explicitly.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is stated; the focus is on grace at the ‘end’ (antakāla) and liberation.