Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 96

Devanagari script

अरुद्ररुद्राक्षफणींद्रभूषणास्त्रिपुंड्रचंद्रार्धधराधरागताः । निरंतरं काशिनिवासिनोजना गिरींद्रजे पारिषदा मता मम

Transliteration

arudrarudrākṣaphaṇīṃdrabhūṣaṇāstripuṃḍracaṃdrārdhadharādharāgatāḥ | niraṃtaraṃ kāśinivāsinojanā girīṃdraje pāriṣadā matā mama

Translation

山の王の娘よ、絶えずカーシーに住まう人々は—ルドラークシャの珠と蛇王の飾りを身にまとい、聖なる灰の三条（トリプンダ）を印し、半月を戴く者たち—わたしの見解では、シヴァの侍者（パーリシャダ）と見なされるべきである。

Word by Word

• a-rudra-rudrākṣa-phaṇīndra-bhūṣaṇāḥ: those adorned with rudrākṣa and serpent-lord ornaments
• a-rudra-rudrākṣa-phaṇīndra-bhūṣaṇāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: a- (नञ्) + rudra (रुद्र) + rudrākṣa (रुद्राक्ष) + phaṇīndra (फणीन्द्र) + bhūṣaṇa (भूषण)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहि: ‘ये रुद्रं न (अ) रुद्रं, रुद्राक्ष-फणीन्द्र-भूषणं यस्य’ इति—अर्थतः ‘रुद्राक्ष-नागेन्द्र-भूषणधारिणः’ (epithet)

• tri-puṇḍra-caṃdra-ardha-dhara-adhara-gatāḥ: those bearing the triple mark and the half-moon (as Śaiva insignia)
• tri-puṇḍra-caṃdra-ardha-dhara-adhara-gatāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tri (त्रि) + puṇḍra (पुण्ड्र) + caṃdra (चन्द्र) + ardha (अर्ध) + dhara (धर) + adhara (अधर) + gata (गम् धातु, क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहि: ‘त्रिपुण्ड्रं च चन्द्रार्धं च धारयन्ति, (तद्) अधरं/अधरे गतं येषाम्’—शैव-लक्षणयुक्ताः (epithet)

• niraṃtaram: continuously
• niraṃtaram: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: niraṃtaram (अव्यय/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Form: काल/प्रकारवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: continuously)

• kāśi-nivāsinaḥ: residents of Kāśī
• kāśi-nivāsinaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (काशी) + nivāsin (निवासिन् प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘काश्यां निवसन्ति’

• janāḥ: people
• janāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jana (जन प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• girīndraje: O daughter of the mountain-king
• girīndraje: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: girīndrajā (गिरीन्द्रजा प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• pāriṣadāḥ: attendants (of Śiva)
• pāriṣadāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāriṣada (पारिषद प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• matāḥ: considered (as)
• matāḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mata (मन् धातु, क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; विशेषण (qualifying pāriṣadāḥ); ‘considered/held to be’

• mama: of me/my
• mama: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद् सर्वनाम)
• Form: षष्ठी (Genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

Speaker

Śiva (deduced from address to Girīndrajā/Pārvatī and Śaiva insignia context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Girijā/Pārvatī

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Kāśī residents as radiant Śaiva devotees: rudrākṣa garlands, tripuṇḍra ash-lines, crescent-moon emblems, serpent ornaments—standing like Śiva’s gaṇas around a liṅga in the city’s sacred lanes.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• Girīndrajā (Pārvatī)
• Śiva (implied by pāriṣada and Śaiva marks)
• Rudrākṣa
• Tripuṇḍra
• Candra (crescent moon)
• Phaṇīndra (serpent-king)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Unbroken devotion expressed through life in Kāśī and Śaiva conduct (rudrākṣa, tripuṇḍra, Śiva-identification) elevates an ordinary person to the status of Śiva’s own attendant.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), praised as a supreme Śaiva sacred geography where continuous residence itself is a mark of divine proximity.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific dāna/snānā/japa is prescribed in this verse; it emphasizes Śaiva identifiers and steadfast residence in Kāśī as the defining observance.