Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 66

Devanagari script

तंद्री तदंगसंस्पर्शौ मम बोधापहारकौ । तंद्र्या परवशा चासं ततस्तत्स्पर्शनेन च

Transliteration

taṃdrī tadaṃgasaṃsparśau mama bodhāpahārakau | taṃdryā paravaśā cāsaṃ tatastatsparśanena ca

Translation

微睡みと、彼の肢の触れとが、我が覚りを奪った。その微睡みに屈し、さらにその触れに屈して、我は自制を失った。

Word by Word

• तन्द्रा: drowsiness, stupor
• तन्द्रा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तन्द्रा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• तत्-अङ्ग-संस्पर्शौ: the touch of his limbs (two: drowsiness and touch as a pair)
• तत्-अङ्ग-संस्पर्शौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तत् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + अङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक) + संस्पर्श (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), द्विवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (तस्य अङ्गस्य संस्पर्शौ)

• मम: my
• मम: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• बोध-अपहारकौ: stealers of awareness
• बोध-अपहारकौ: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बोध (प्रातिपदिक) + अपहारक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), द्विवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (बोधस्य अपहारकौ)

• तन्द्रया: by/through drowsiness
• तन्द्रया: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तन्द्रा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• परवशा: helpless, under another’s control
• परवशा: Kartṛ-samānādhikaraṇa (Subject complement/कर्तृसमानाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परवश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• आसम्: I was
• आसम्: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• ततः: then, thereupon
• ततः: Desha-Kala (Adverbial/देश-काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb: तस्मात्/thereupon)

• तत्-स्पर्शनेन: by that touching
• तत्-स्पर्शनेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तत् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + स्पर्शन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (तस्य स्पर्शनेन)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

Speaker

Skanda (narrating within Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, typically to Agastya)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A heroine in a dim inner chamber, eyes heavy with drowsiness, leaning as a beloved’s arm brushes her; her awareness slipping like a lamp in wind.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It portrays how sensory contact and inner lethargy can overpower discernment—devotion requires wakeful awareness (bodha) and restraint.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader setting is Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, where narratives support the Māhātmya of the sacred kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is stated in this verse; it is a psychological-devotional description within the Kāśī narrative.