Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 79

Devanagari script

कालकूटे च गरदं कूटसाक्ष्याभिवादिनम् । मानकूटं तुलाकूटं कंठमोटे निपातय

Transliteration

kālakūṭe ca garadaṃ kūṭasākṣyābhivādinam | mānakūṭaṃ tulākūṭaṃ kaṃṭhamoṭe nipātaya

Translation

毒を盛る者と偽証する者をカーラクータ地獄に投げ込め。そして、尺度や重量をごまかす者たちをマーナクータ、トゥラークータ、カンタモータに落とせ。

Word by Word

• कालकूटे: in Kālakūṭa (hell)
• कालकूटे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल + कूट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (कालस्य कूटः / कालकूट-नामकः नरकः)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय

• गरदम्: poisoner / one dealing in poison
• गरदम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गरद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• कूटसाक्ष्याभिवादिनम्: one who gives/utters false testimony
• कूटसाक्ष्याभिवादिनम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कूट + साक्ष्य + अभिवादिन् (प्रातिपदिक; अभिवादिन् = वद्-धातुज कृत्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (कूटं साक्ष्यं यस्य/कूटसाक्ष्यं अभिवदति इति)

• मानकूटम्: (to) Mānakūṭa (hell)
• मानकूटम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मान + कूट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (मानस्य कूटम् / ‘false weights/measures’ hell-name)

• तुलाकूटम्: (to) Tulākūṭa (hell)
• तुलाकूटम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तुला + कूट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (तुलायाः कूटम् / ‘false balance’ hell-name)

• कंठमोटे: in Kaṇṭhamoṭa (hell)
• कंठमोटे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कण्ठ + मोट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (कण्ठस्य मोटः / कंठमोट-नामकः नरकः)

• निपातय: cast down
• निपातय: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि + पत् (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार, मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्; णिच्-प्रयोगः (causative) ‘cause to fall’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa, Skanda → Agastya dialogue context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Infernal tribunal imagery: a poisoner and perjurer dragged toward a dark cauldron-like abyss (Kālakūṭa); nearby, merchants with false scales and measures are hurled into separate pits labeled Mānakūṭa, Tulākūṭa, Kaṇṭhamoṭa, with broken balances and measuring rods scattered.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Kāśī
• Naraka
• Kālakūṭa
• Mānakūṭa
• Tulākūṭa
• Kaṇṭhamoṭa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Satya (truthfulness) and fairness in commerce are dharmic pillars; poisoning, perjury, and fraud corrode society and bring painful karmic results.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage belongs to the Kāśī Khaṇḍa’s dharma instruction; it does not single out a particular tirtha in these lines.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is an ethical injunction framed through naraka consequences.