Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 97

Devanagari script

मंत्राः कुंठितसामर्थ्यास्तत्क्षणादेव चाभवन् । अहो महानिष्टतरं किमेतत्समुपस्थितम्

Transliteration

maṃtrāḥ kuṃṭhitasāmarthyāstatkṣaṇādeva cābhavan | aho mahāniṣṭataraṃ kimetatsamupasthitam

Translation

À cet instant précis, les mantras perdirent leur puissance. Hélas, quelle grande calamité est-ce là qui a surgi maintenant ?

Word by Word

• maṃtrāḥ: mantras
• maṃtrāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maṃtra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), बहुवचन

• kuṃṭhita-sāmarthyāḥ: with blunted efficacy
• kuṃṭhita-sāmarthyāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kuṃṭhita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √kuṇṭh/कुण्ठ् ‘to blunt’) + sāmarthya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुषार्थः ‘कुंठितं सामर्थ्यं येषाम्’ = whose power is blunted; विशेषण ‘maṃtrāḥ’

• tat-kṣaṇāt: from that instant
• tat-kṣaṇāt: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + kṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः = from that very moment; ablative singular

• eva: indeed, just
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (अवधारण/particle) = emphatic ‘indeed/just’

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चय)

• abhavan: became, were
• abhavan: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (भू)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत/Imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• aho: alas! oh!
• aho: Sambandha (Interjection/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: aho (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (विस्मय/उद्गार) = interjection of astonishment

• mahā-niṣṭataram: more greatly inauspicious
• mahā-niṣṭataram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + niṣṭatara (प्रातिपदिक; तृतीय-तुलनात्मक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः ‘महच्च तत् निṣṭataram’ = very inauspicious (comparative ‘more inauspicious’ with intensifier)

• kim: what?
• kim: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक सर्वनाम

• etat: this
• etat: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; निर्देशवाचक

• samupasthitam: has appeared, has come upon
• samupasthitam: Kriya (Predicative/क्रिया-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam-upa-√sthā (स्था) ; समुपस्थित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृत् (क्त) = past participle; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘present/arrived’ (agreeing with ‘etat’)

Speaker

Unknown from snippet (likely priests/participants reacting)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Priests mid-chant suddenly falter; lips frozen, rosaries slack; sacred syllables depicted as dimming glyphs; faces show alarm; the yajña space feels ‘hollow’ as if sound is swallowed.

Characters & Entities

• Mantras

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Mantra efficacy is tied to cosmic and moral order; when adharma or upheaval occurs, ritual speech itself can lose force.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is mentioned in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No prescription; it reports a ritual failure—mantras becoming ineffective.