Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 94

Devanagari script

विघ्नराजादवाच्यां तु दंतहस्तो गणेश्वरः । लिखेद्विघ्नसहस्राणि नृणां वाराणसीद्रुहाम्

Transliteration

vighnarājādavācyāṃ tu daṃtahasto gaṇeśvaraḥ | likhedvighnasahasrāṇi nṛṇāṃ vārāṇasīdruhām

Translation

Et au sud, depuis Vighnarāja, se tient le Gaṇeśvara nommé Dantahasta. Il inscrit—il ordonne—des milliers d’obstacles pour ceux qui agissent en ennemis de Vārāṇasī.

Word by Word

• विघ्नराजात्: from Vighnarāja
• विघ्नराजात्: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विघ्नराज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (विघ्नानां राजा)

• अवाच्याम्: in the (direction) called Avācya (south)
• अवाच्याम्: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अवाच्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• तु: but, indeed
• तु: Sambandha/Discourse particle
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधान/विरोधार्थक निपात (particle)

• दन्तहस्तः: one whose hand is (like) a tusk / tusk-handed
• दन्तहस्तः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दन्त + हस्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (दन्तः एव हस्तः)

• गणेश्वरः: Lord of the gaṇas
• गणेश्वरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गण + ईश्वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (गणानाम् ईश्वरः)

• लिखेत्: may (he) write/inscribe
• लिखेत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लिख् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative/संभावना), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• विघ्नसहस्राणि: thousands of obstacles
• विघ्नसहस्राणि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विघ्न + सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः (विघ्नानां सहस्राणि)

• नृणाम्: of men
• नृणाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• वाराणसीद्रुहाम्: of those who harm Vārāṇasī
• वाराणसीद्रुहाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाराणसी + द्रुह् (धातु) + अम् (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन; उपपद-तत्पुरुषः (वाराणसीं द्रुह्यन्ति इति); द्रुह्-धातोः शतृ/कृदन्त-आधारित प्रातिपदिक

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dantahasta Gaṇeśvara (Vighnarāja-sambandha, South of Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣi audience / internal Kāśī interlocutors

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Dantahasta Gaṇeśvara stands in the southern quarter with a stylus/ledger motif—symbolically ‘writing’ obstacles for those who harm Kāśī; the city’s sacred skyline is behind him, while shadowy figures representing kṣetra-droha recoil from the protective boundary.

Characters & Entities

• Vighnarāja
• Dantahasta Gaṇeśvara
• Vārāṇasī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred places are protected by divine order; hostility toward Kāśī is framed as adharma that brings self-created impediments.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) as a city guarded by Vināyaka forms that restrain offenders.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual; the verse states a protective, punitive function of Dantahasta toward enemies of Kāśī.