Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 19

Devanagari script

शुश्रूषिताश्च गुरवो बहवो बह्वनेहसम् । महाश्मशानेषु निशा भूयस्योप्यतिवाहिताः

Transliteration

śuśrūṣitāśca guravo bahavo bahvanehasam | mahāśmaśāneṣu niśā bhūyasyopyativāhitāḥ

Translation

ನಾನು ದೀರ್ಘಕಾಲ ಅನೇಕ ಗುರುಗಳನ್ನು ಶ್ರದ್ಧೆಯಿಂದ ಶೂಶ್ರೂಷಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ; ಮಹಾಶ್ಮಶಾನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸಹ ಅನೇಕ ರಾತ್ರಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕಳೆಯಿದ್ದೇನೆ.

Word by Word

• शुश्रूषिताः: were served/attended
• शुश्रूषिताः: Kriya (Main action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √श्रुष्/श्रूष् (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मणि (passive: 'were attended/served')

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• गुरवः: teachers
• गुरवः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुरु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन

• बहवः: many
• बहवः: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन; विशेषण (गुरवः)

• बह्वनेहसम्: with much effort
• बह्वनेहसम्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहु + अनेहस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Accusative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुषार्थे (बहु अनेहः यस्मिन् = 'with much effort/striving'); क्रियाविशेषणवत्

• महाश्मशानेषु: in great cremation-grounds
• महाश्मशानेषु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा + श्मशान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative), बहुवचन; कर्मधारय (महत् श्मशानम्)

• निशाः: nights
• निशाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: निशा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन

• भूयस्यः: many more / mostly
• भूयस्यः: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भूयस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन; तुलनात्मक (comparative) अर्थे 'more/mostly'; विशेषण (निशाः)

• अपि: also / even
• अपि: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (also/even)

• अतिवाहिताः: were spent / passed
• अतिवाहिताः: Kriya (Main action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अति-√वह् (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मणि (passive: 'were passed/spent'); उपसर्ग: अति

Speaker

Damana

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mahāśmaśāna of Kāśī (emblematic)

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: An ascetic sits through the night near a cremation ground fire, skulls/bones only symbolically suggested (tasteful), with a distant ghat and funeral pyres; earlier, scenes of serving gurus in an āśrama.

Characters & Entities

• Gurus
• Mahāśmaśāna (great cremation ground)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Service to gurus and confronting impermanence (through śmaśāna discipline) are portrayed as means to deepen detachment and spiritual seriousness.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

While not named, cremation-ground imagery strongly resonates with Kāśī’s liberation ethos (Antyeṣṭi and remembrance of mortality).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No formal rite is prescribed; it references guru-sevā and the ascetic practice of staying in śmaśānas as part of tapas.