Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 7

Devanagari script

अष्टाशीतिसहस्राणि शौनकाद्यास्तपोधनाः । त्रिपुंड्रितमहाभाला लसद्रुद्राक्षमालिनः

Transliteration

aṣṭāśītisahasrāṇi śaunakādyāstapodhanāḥ | tripuṃḍritamahābhālā lasadrudrākṣamālinaḥ

Translation

シャウナカを首とする八万八千の苦行者たちは、タパスの富に満ち、広い額に三本の聖灰線（トリプンダラ）を戴き、光り輝くルドラाक्षの数珠を身に着けていた。

Word by Word

• aṣṭāśīti-sahasrāṇi: eighty-eight thousand
• aṣṭāśīti-sahasrāṇi: Karta (Subject as number/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aṣṭāśīti (संख्या) + sahasra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), बहुवचन; द्विगु-समासः (numeral compound)

• śaunaka-ādyāḥ: beginning with Śaunaka
• śaunaka-ādyāḥ: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaunaka + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः—शौनकः आदिः येषाम्

• tapo-dhanāḥ: those rich in austerity
• tapo-dhanāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tapas + dhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—तपः धनं येषाम् (whose wealth is austerity)

• tripuṃḍrita-mahābhālāḥ: having broad foreheads marked with the triple tilaka
• tripuṃḍrita-mahābhālāḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri + puṇḍra + ita (कृदन्त) + mahā + bhāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—त्रिपुण्ड्रेण इतं (अङ्कितं) महाभालं येषाम्

• lasat-rudrākṣa-mālinaḥ: wearing shining rudrākṣa garlands
• lasat-rudrākṣa-mālinaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: lasat (कृदन्त) + rudrākṣa + mālin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—लसद्रुद्राक्षमाला यस्य सः (wearing shining rudrākṣa garlands)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual; likely Skanda speaking within Kāśīkhaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Naimiṣāraṇya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A vast assembly of ascetics—Śaunaka at the forefront—foreheads bearing tripuṇḍra, rudrākṣa malas gleaming; they sit around sacrificial fires and discussion circles in the forest.

Characters & Entities

• Śaunaka
• Rudrākṣa
• Tripuṇḍra
• Ascetics of Naimiṣāraṇya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Outer sacred marks (vibhūti, tripuṇḍra, rudrākṣa) are portrayed as signs of an inner life of tapas and devotion.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The setting is Naimiṣāraṇya, implied from the preceding verse, as a renowned gathering-place of sages.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implied Shaiva observances: wearing tripuṇḍra and rudrākṣa as devotional disciplines, though not framed as a formal injunction here.