Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 130

Devanagari script

उपरिष्टादधस्ताच्च कृता बह्व्यः प्रदक्षिणाः । व्योम्ना संचरमाणाभ्यां संचरद्भ्यां ममाजिरे

Transliteration

upariṣṭādadhastācca kṛtā bahvyaḥ pradakṣiṇāḥ | vyomnā saṃcaramāṇābhyāṃ saṃcaradbhyāṃ mamājire

Translation

ऊपर से और नीचे से अनेक प्रदक्षिणाएँ की गईं; वे आकाश में विचरते हुए मेरे आँगन में निरंतर परिक्रमा करते रहे।

Word by Word

• उपरिष्टात्: from above
• उपरिष्टात्: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उपरिष्टात् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (adverb of place) ‘from above’

• अधस्तात्: from below
• अधस्तात्: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अधस्तात् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण ‘from below’

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• कृताः: were performed
• कृताः: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय, past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘done/made’ (agrees with प्रदक्षिणाः)

• बह्व्यः: many
• बह्व्यः: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; विशेषणं प्रदक्षिणानाम्

• प्रदक्षिणाः: circumambulations
• प्रदक्षिणाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रदक्षिणा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• व्योम्ना: through the sky
• व्योम्ना: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्योमन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• संचरमाणाभ्याम्: by the two who were moving
• संचरमाणाभ्याम्: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + चर् (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (शतृ/शानच्-वर्तमानकाले, present active participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, द्विवचन; ‘by the two moving about’

• संचरद्भ्याम्: by the two moving (again)
• संचरद्भ्याम्: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + चर् (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (शतृ-वर्तमानकाले, present active participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, द्विवचन; पुनरुक्त-बलार्थम् (emphatic repetition)

• मम: my
• मम: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• अजिरे: in the courtyard
• अजिरे: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अजिर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

Speaker

Śiva (deduced from ‘mama ājire’—‘in my courtyard’—within the divine encounter)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Viśveśvara-ājira (temple precinct) in Kāśī

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Sages in the frame narrative / audience of Kāśī-māhātmya

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Two divine beings (suggestive of Vidyādhara-type aerial movers) circling repeatedly from above and below within Śiva’s temple courtyard; dynamic spirals around a central liṅga-shrine.

Characters & Entities

• Pradakṣiṇā
• Vyoman (sky)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Embodied devotion—especially pradakṣiṇā—becomes a direct mode of entering the Lord’s presence and sacred space.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse points to Śiva’s sacred precinct in Kāśī (the Lord’s ‘courtyard’), within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Pradakṣiṇā (circumambulation) of the Lord’s sacred enclosure/temple-space.