Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 36

Devanagari script

सामोदमोदकभरैर्वरधूपदीपैर्माल्यैः सुगंधबहुलैरनुलेपनैश्च । संप्रीण्यकाशिनगरीफलदानदक्षं प्रोक्त्वाथ मां क इह सिध्यति नैव ढुंढे

Transliteration

sāmodamodakabharairvaradhūpadīpairmālyaiḥ sugaṃdhabahulairanulepanaiśca | saṃprīṇyakāśinagarīphaladānadakṣaṃ proktvātha māṃ ka iha sidhyati naiva ḍhuṃḍhe

Translation

甘きモーダカ（modaka）の山、勝れた香（dhūpa）と灯（dīpa）、花鬘、そして芳香あふれる塗香によってカーシー（Kāśī）の都を歓ばせ、我は彼女を果報を授けるに最も巧みなるものと宣言した。されば、ここで誰が他の成就を求めようか。われは他を求めぬ。

Word by Word

• sa-āmōda-modaka-bharaiḥ: with heaps of fragrant sweet-balls
• sa-āmōda-modaka-bharaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sa (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + āmoda (प्रातिपदिक) + modaka (प्रातिपदिक) + bhara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (आमोदयुक्त-मोदकानां भरैः)

• vara-dhūpa-dīpaiḥ: with excellent incense and lamps
• vara-dhūpa-dīpaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vara (प्रातिपदिक) + dhūpa (प्रातिपदिक) + dīpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), बहुवचन; समासः—द्वन्द्वः (धूप-दीपैः), ‘vara’ विशेषणपूर्वपद

• mālyaiḥ: with garlands
• mālyaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mālya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), बहुवचन

• sugandha-bahulaiḥ: abounding in fragrance
• sugandha-bahulaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su-gandha (प्रातिपदिक) + bahula (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (माल्यैः/अनुलेपनैः इत्यादीनाम्)

• anulepanaiḥ: with unguents/anointments
• anulepanaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anulepana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), बहुवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha/Connector
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• saṃprīṇya: having pleased
• saṃprīṇya: Purvakala (Prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam + prī (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्त (absolutive/gerund); ‘सम्+प्री’—तोषयित्वा/प्रसाद्य

• kāśī-nagarī-phala-dāna-dakṣam: the one skilled in granting the fruit of (residing in) Kāśī-city
• kāśī-nagarī-phala-dāna-dakṣam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक) + nagarī (प्रातिपदिक) + phala (प्रातिपदिक) + dāna (प्रातिपदिक) + dakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (काशीनगर्याः फलदानदक्षम्)

• proktvā: having said/declared
• proktvā: Purvakala (Prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra + vac (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्त (absolutive/gerund); ‘प्र+वच्’—उक्त्वा

• atha: then
• atha: Discourse marker
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अनन्तरबोधक-अव्यय (then/now)

• mām: me
• mām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, द्वितीया (कर्म), एकवचन

• kaḥ: who
• kaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक-सर्वनाम

• iha: here
• iha: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iha (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (here)

• sidhyati: succeeds/attains fulfillment
• sidhyati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sidh (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• na: not
• na: Negation
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation)

• eva: indeed/at all
• eva: Emphasis
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-अव्यय (emphasis)

• ḍhuṃḍhe: O Ḍhuṃḍhi (Vināyaka)
• ḍhuṃḍhe: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ḍhuṃḍhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (vocative), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa context: Skanda speaking to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (as kṣetra itself)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer (typically a ṛṣi such as Agastya in Kāśīkhaṇḍa frames; exact interlocutor not specified in the verse)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee in Kāśī offers heaps of modakas, incense, lamps, garlands, and fragrant unguents before a sanctified cityscape—ghats, temples, and the luminous presence of the kṣetra personified as a boon-giver.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Kāśīnagarī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is portrayed as intrinsically capable of granting spiritual fruits; once she is sincerely pleased through worship, seeking other siddhis elsewhere becomes unnecessary.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī-nagarī (Vārāṇasī), the celebrated sacred city in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, is directly praised as a giver of results (phaladā).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Offerings and worship-items are listed: modakas (sweet offerings), incense (dhūpa), lamps (dīpa), garlands (mālya), and fragrant unguents (anulepana) used to propitiate Kāśī.