Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

खेलन्मरालयुगलं जीवं जीवककांतिमत् । माल्याहूत द्विरेफाणां मंजुगुंजारवावृतम्

Transliteration

khelanmarālayugalaṃ jīvaṃ jīvakakāṃtimat | mālyāhūta dvirephāṇāṃ maṃjuguṃjāravāvṛtam

Translation

ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಹಂಸಗಳ ಜೋಡಿಗಳು ಕ್ರೀಡಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದವು; ಜೀವಕದಂತೆ ಕಾಂತಿಯುಳ್ಳ ಜೀವಪಕ್ಷಿಗಳೂ ಶೋಭಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದವು. ಮಾಲೆಗಳಿಂದ ಆಕರ್ಷಿತವಾದ ಭ್ರಮರಗಳ ಮಧುರ ಗುಂಜಾರವದಿಂದ ಸರ್ವವೂ ಆವರಿತವಾಗಿತ್ತು.

Word by Word

• खेलत्: playing
• खेलत्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: खेल् (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (Present active participle); नपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचनरूपेण विशेषणवत्

• मराल-युगलम्: a pair of swans
• मराल-युगलम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मराल (प्रातिपदिक) + युगल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• जीवम्: a parrot (jīva-bird)
• जीवम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जीव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• जीवक-कान्ति-मत्: having the lustre of jīvakā (a plant)
• जीवक-कान्ति-मत्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जीवक (प्रातिपदिक) + कान्ति (प्रातिपदिक) + मत् (प्रत्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; ‘-मत्’ प्रत्ययान्त (possessive)

• माल्य-आहूत: attracted/called by garlands
• माल्य-आहूत: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: माल्य (प्रातिपदिक) + आहू (धातु)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (PPP); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; ‘माल्येन आहूतम्’ इति

• द्विरेफाणाम्: of bees
• द्विरेफाणाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विरेफ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन

• मञ्जु-गुञ्जा-रव-आवृतम्: covered with sweet humming sounds
• मञ्जु-गुञ्जा-रव-आवृतम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मञ्जु (प्रातिपदिक) + गुञ्जा (प्रातिपदिक) + रव (प्रातिपदिक) + आ√वृ (धातु)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (PPP) ‘आवृत’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; ‘मञ्जुगुञ्जारवेण आवृतम्’

Speaker

Narrative voice within Kāśīkhaṇḍa (deductively: Skanda speaking to Agastya)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A lush sacred garden in Kāśī: paired swans playing on a lotus pond; jīva/jīvakā-like bright birds perched amid flower garlands; bees swirl around the garlands, filling the air with a soft, sweet hum.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• dvirepha (bees)
• marāla (swans)
• jīva/jīvakā (birds)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is portrayed as a sanctified, joy-filled realm where even nature participates in auspiciousness—signalling the kṣetra’s innate holiness.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī-kṣetra broadly (the sacred environment of Vārāṇasī), described through its divine, fragrant, bee-filled groves.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse functions as māhātmya-style praise through sacred landscape description.