Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 51

Devanagari script

लोकेश्वर समायाहि मंदरो नाम भूधरः । कुशद्वीपादिहागत्य तपस्तप्येत दुष्करम्

Transliteration

lokeśvara samāyāhi maṃdaro nāma bhūdharaḥ | kuśadvīpādihāgatya tapastapyeta duṣkaram

Translation

“Wahai Penguasa alam semesta, datanglah. Sebuah gunung bernama Mandara telah tiba di sini dari Kuśadvīpa dan sedang menjalankan tapa yang amat berat.”

Word by Word

• लोकेश्वर: O Lord of the world
• लोकेश्वर: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक-ईश्वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन (Singular)

• समायाहि: come
• समायाहि: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-√या (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन (Singular)

• मन्दरः: Mandara
• मन्दरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्दर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन (Singular)

• नाम: named
• नाम: Sambandha (Apposition marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नाम (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle) ‘named/called’

• भूधरः: mountain
• भूधरः: Karta (Appositional subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भू-धर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन (Singular); मन्दरस्य विशेषण/अप्पोजिशन

• कुशद्वीपात्: from Kuśadvīpa
• कुशद्वीपात्: Apadana (Ablative/source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुश-द्वीप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन (Singular)

• इह: here
• इह: Desha-adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक अव्यय (adverb of place)

• आगत्य: having come
• आगत्य: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-√गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive)

• तपः: austerity
• तपः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular)

• तप्येत: should perform austerity
• तप्येत: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √तप् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular); आत्मनेपद

• दुष्करम्: difficult
• दुष्करम्: Karma (Object-qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दुष्-कर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन (Singular); तपः इति विशेषण

Speaker

Śiva (Īśa/Viśveśa), addressing Brahmā (Vidhi)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta), Viśveśvara-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and sages (contextual)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Brahmā urgently addresses Viśveśa: Mandara mountain has arrived from Kuśadvīpa and is engaged in fierce austerities near Kāśī.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva (Lokeśvara/Viśveśa)
• Mandara (mountain)
• Kuśadvīpa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Austerity undertaken with purpose draws divine attention; tapas is portrayed as a force that moves even cosmic authorities to respond.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The scene is anchored in Kāśī under Viśveśa’s lordship, with cosmic geography (Kuśadvīpa) feeding into Kāśī’s Mahātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Tapas (austerity) is mentioned generally, described as ‘duṣkara’ (arduous), without a specific vrata procedure.