Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 48

Devanagari script

मन्ये धन्यतरोसि त्वं बहुजन्मशतार्जितैः । सुकृतैः पासि यत्काशीं विश्वभर्तुः परां तनुम्

Transliteration

manye dhanyatarosi tvaṃ bahujanmaśatārjitaiḥ | sukṛtaiḥ pāsi yatkāśīṃ viśvabhartuḥ parāṃ tanum

Translation

あなたはまことに最も幸いな方である。幾百の生にわたり積んだ功徳によって、宇宙を支える主の至上の御身たるカーシーを拝することができるのだから。

Word by Word

• manye: I think
• manye: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √man (मन् ज्ञाने/मनने)
• Form: लट् (present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• dhanyataraḥ: more blessed
• dhanyataraḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dhanya-tara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; तद्धित/तुलनात्मक (comparative) ‘more blessed’

• asi: you are
• asi: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √as (अस् सत्तायाम्)
• Form: लट् (present), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• tvam: you
• tvam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• bahu: many
• bahu: Samasa-purvapada (Compound member/समासपद)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bahu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद; ‘many’

• janma: birth
• janma: Samasa-madhyapada (Compound member/समासपद)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; समासमध्यपद

• śata: hundreds
• śata: Samasa-madhyapada (Compound member/समासपद)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; द्विगुसमासः = जन्म-शत (hundreds of births) (as part of larger compound)

• arjitaiḥ: by (merits) earned over hundreds of births
• arjitaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: arjita (कृदन्त; √arj अर्जने)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त) — ‘earned’; समासः = बहु-जन्म-शत-अर्जित (तत्पुरुषः)

• sukṛtaiḥ: by good deeds/merits
• sukṛtaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sukṛta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन

• pāsi: you protect
• pāsi: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √pā (पा रक्षणे/पालने)
• Form: लट् (present), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• yat: since; that
• yat: Sambandha (Clause linker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; यत्-कारण/यत्-सम्बन्धार्थ (here: ‘since/that’) introducing subordinate clause

• kāśīm: Kāśī
• kāśīm: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

• viśvabhartuḥ: of the sustainer of the universe
• viśvabhartuḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśva-bhartṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; समासः = विश्व + भर्तृ (तत्पुरुषः) ‘supporter/lord of the universe’

• parām: supreme
• parām: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; ‘tanum’ विशेषण

• tanum: body; form
• tanum: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tanu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; ‘kāśīm’ appositional/object-complement sense

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: The King addressed as ‘tvam’

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim-king stands at dawn on a Kāśī ghāṭa, hands folded, beholding the city as a living divine form; the skyline subtly aligns into Śiva’s cosmic silhouette, suggesting ‘Kāśī as the Lord’s body’.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Viśvabhartṛ (Śiva as world-sustainer)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Reaching and beholding Kāśī is portrayed as the fruit of vast accumulated puṇya across many lives.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), revered as the ‘supreme body’ of the cosmic Lord.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is stated; the emphasis is on darśana of Kāśī as a rare fruit of sukṛta.