Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 11

Devanagari script

दामोदरहृषीकेश गोर्विदाच्युतमाधव । उपेंद्रकैटभाऽराते मधुहंतरधोक्षज

Transliteration

dāmodarahṛṣīkeśa gorvidācyutamādhava | upeṃdrakaiṭabhā'rāte madhuhaṃtaradhokṣaja

Translation

હે દામોદર, હૃષીકેશ, ગોવિંદ, અચ્યુત, માધવ; હે ઉપેન્દ્ર; કૈટભ-શત્રુ; મધુ-હંતા; હે અધોક્ષજ—તમને નમસ્કાર॥

Word by Word

• दामोदर: O Dāmodara
• दामोदर: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दामोदर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• हृषीकेश: O Hṛṣīkeśa
• हृषीकेश: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हृषीकेश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• गोविन्द: O Govinda
• गोविन्द: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गोविन्द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• अच्युत: O Acyuta
• अच्युत: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अच्युत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• माधव: O Mādhava
• माधव: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: माधव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• उपेन्द्र: O Upendra
• उपेन्द्र: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपेन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• कैटभ-अराते: O enemy of Kaiṭabha
• कैटभ-अराते: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कैटभ (प्रातिपदिक) + अराति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: कैटभस्य अरातिः/शत्रुः); पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• मधु-हन्तर्: O slayer of Madhu
• मधु-हन्तर्: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मधु (प्रातिपदिक) + हन्तृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (कर्म-तत्पुरुष: मधुं हन्ति इति); पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• अधोक्षज: O Adhokṣaja
• अधोक्षज: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अधोक्षज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Avimukta-kṣetra (Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A garland of names visualized as a halo around Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa: child Dāmodara with waist-cord, Hṛṣīkeśa as charioteer-lord, Adhokṣaja as cosmic deity; the devotee chants on a Kāśī ghāṭa at sunrise.

Characters & Entities

• Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa
• Dāmodara
• Hṛṣīkeśa
• Govinda
• Acyuta
• Mādhava
• Upendra
• Kaiṭabha
• Madhu
• Adhokṣaja

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Nāma-smṛti: repeating the Lord’s names gathers devotion and destroys fear and impurity.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The setting remains Kāśī in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa; the verse is a litany of divine names.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, japa of divine names; no formal vow or donation is specified.