Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 65

Devanagari script

अवैमि त्वामपि नृपद्विजोऽभूः पूर्वजन्मनि । माथुरः शिवशर्माख्यो मायापुर्यां भवान्मृतः

Transliteration

avaimi tvāmapi nṛpadvijo'bhūḥ pūrvajanmani | māthuraḥ śivaśarmākhyo māyāpuryāṃ bhavānmṛtaḥ

Translation

હે રાજેન્દ્ર, હું તને પણ જાણું છું—પૂર્વજન્મમાં તું મથુરાનો દ્વિજ બ્રાહ્મણ હતો, શિવશર્મા નામે; અને માયાપુરીમાં તારો અવસાન થયું હતું।

Word by Word

• अवैमि: I know
• अवैमि: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अव + इ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present); उत्तमपुरुष (1st person); एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• त्वाम्: you
• त्वाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (सामान्य); द्वितीया; एकवचन

• अपि: also
• अपि: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle)

• नृपद्विजः: a royal brāhmaṇa (king's priest)
• नृपद्विजः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप (प्रातिपदिक) + द्विज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (नृपस्य द्विजः = king's priest/royal brāhmaṇa)

• अभूः: you were
• अभूः: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लुङ् (Aorist/Imperfect past); मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person); एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• पूर्वजन्मनि: in a previous birth
• पूर्वजन्मनि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पूर्व (प्रातिपदिक) + जन्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी; एकवचन; कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष (पूर्वं जन्म = previous birth)

• माथुरः: from Mathurā
• माथुरः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: माथुर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन; विशेषण (gentilic)

• शिवशर्माख्यः: named Śivaśarman
• शिवशर्माख्यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिवशर्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + आख्य (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन; बहुव्रीहि (शिवशर्म नाम यस्य सः = one named Śivaśarman)

• मायापुर्याम्: in Māyāpurī
• मायापुर्याम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मायापुरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; सप्तमी; एकवचन

• भवान्: you (honored)
• भवान्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भवत् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन; आदरार्थ-सम्बोधनार्थक सर्वनाम (honorific pronoun)

• मृतः: died
• मृतः: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मृ (धातु) + मृत (कृदन्त-क्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन; विधेय (predicate)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue style)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mathurā; Māyāpurī (as named)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Rājā (the addressed king)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sage or divine narrator reveals to an aged king his former identity: a serene brāhmaṇa from Mathurā named Śivaśarman, with a symbolic vignette of his death in Māyāpurī hovering like a memory-scene.

Characters & Entities

• Mathurā
• Śivaśarman
• Māyāpurī
• brāhmaṇa
• King (rājā)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic teaching links identity across births: prior actions and sacred-place connections shape one’s present station and destiny.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Mathurā and Māyāpurī are mentioned as significant sacred geographies within the broader tīrtha framework.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a karmic-biographical disclosure within the mahatmya narrative.