Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 28

Devanagari script

मध्ये विपणि यतूर्णं कौचिच्चारण्यचारिणौ । मृगौ मृगयतां यातौ पौराणां पुरतोऽहितौ

Transliteration

madhye vipaṇi yatūrṇaṃ kauciccāraṇyacāriṇau | mṛgau mṛgayatāṃ yātau paurāṇāṃ purato'hitau

Translation

市のただ中で、ふだんは森をさまよう二頭の鹿がにわかに駆け回り、町人の前に現れた――不吉な光景である。

Word by Word

• मध्ये: in the middle
• मध्ये: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (अधिकरण), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावार्थे ‘मध्ये’ = in the middle

• विपणि: in the market
• विपणि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विपणि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (अधिकरण), एकवचन

• यत्: which
• यत्: Sambandha (Relative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक (relative)

• ऊर्णम्: woollen
• ऊर्णम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ऊर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘ऊर्ण’ = woollen/covered with wool

• कौचित्: some
• कौचित्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अनिश्चितार्थक-अव्यय (indefinite particle) = ‘some/any’

• चारण्यचारिणौ: wandering in the forest
• चारण्यचारिणौ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चारण्य + चारिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (चारण्ये चरति)

• मृगौ: two deer
• मृगौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (कर्ता), द्विवचन

• मृगयताम्: of the hunters
• मृगयताम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √मृगय् (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्यय (वर्तमान-कृदन्त/वर्तमाने कृदन्त), षष्ठी-बहुवचन; ‘of those who are hunting’

• यातौ: went/arrived
• यातौ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √या (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्यय (भूतकर्मणि/भूतकृदन्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, द्विवचन; ‘gone/come’

• पौराणाम्: of the townspeople
• पौराणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पौर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• पुरतः: in front (of)
• पुरतः: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुरतः (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of place) = ‘in front of’

• अहितौ: harmful
• अहितौ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अहित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; ‘harmful/hostile’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A bustling bazaar with stalls and goods; suddenly two deer dart through the center, weaving between people. Merchants recoil, onlookers freeze, and the scene turns tense and inauspicious.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (context)
• Citizens (paurāḥ)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

When natural order is inverted (forest creatures in the market), it signals disorder and warns the community to guard dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī as a sacred city is the narrative frame; no single tīrtha is specified in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a narrative description of an inauspicious sign.