Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 4

Devanagari script

जीवन्मुक्तैवासं हि क्षेत्रतत्त्वश्रुतेरहम् । स्कंददक्षेश्वरादीनि लिंगानीह चतुर्दश । यान्युक्तानि समाचक्ष्व तत्प्रभावमशेषतः

Transliteration

jīvanmuktaivāsaṃ hi kṣetratattvaśruteraham | skaṃdadakṣeśvarādīni liṃgānīha caturdaśa | yānyuktāni samācakṣva tatprabhāvamaśeṣataḥ

Translation

ಈ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರತತ್ತ್ವವನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿ ನಾನು ಜೀವन्मುಕ್ತನಂತೆ ಆಗಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಈಗ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಕಂದ, ದಕ್ಷೇಶ್ವರ ಮೊದಲಾದಂತೆ ಹೇಳಲ್ಪಟ್ಟ ಹದಿನಾಲ್ಕು ಲಿಂಗಗಳ ಮಹಿಮೆಯನ್ನು ಅವಶೇಷವಿಲ್ಲದೆ ವಿವರಿಸು.

Word by Word

• जीवन्मुक्तैव: as one liberated while living, indeed
• जीवन्मुक्तैव: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जीवन्मुक्त + एव (प्रातिपदिक + अव्यय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम् + एव (Masculine, Nominative, Singular; ‘as a jīvanmukta’ + emphatic)

• आसम्: I was
• आसम्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect), परस्मैपद, उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचन (Imperfect, Parasmaipada, 1st person, Singular)

• हि: indeed, for
• हि: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: हेतौ/निश्चये अव्यय (indeed/for)

• क्षेत्रतत्त्वश्रुतेः: from the hearing/teaching of the truth of the sacred field (kṣetra)
• क्षेत्रतत्त्वश्रुतेः: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षेत्र + तत्त्व + श्रुति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Feminine, Ablative, Singular)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Nominative, Singular)

• स्कन्ददक्षेश्वरादीनि: beginning with Skanda-Dakṣeśvara etc.
• स्कन्ददक्षेश्वरादीनि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्कन्द + दक्षेश्वर + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (Neuter, Accusative, Plural; ‘beginning with Skanda-Dakṣeśvara’)

• लिङ्गानि: liṅgas
• लिङ्गानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन (Neuter, Accusative, Plural)

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

• चतुर्दश: fourteen
• चतुर्दश: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्दशन् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्यावाचक, अव्ययवत्/अविकारी; लिङ्ग-वचनानपेक्ष (numeral ‘fourteen’, indeclinable-like numeral)

• यानि: which
• यानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन (Neuter, Nominative, Plural; relative pronoun)

• उक्तानि: have been stated
• उक्तानि: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु) (कृदन्त: उक्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोग (Past participle, Neuter, Nominative, Plural; ‘have been said’)

• समाचक्ष्व: tell, explain
• समाचक्ष्व: Kriya (Command/आज्ञा)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + आ + चक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन (Imperative, Parasmaipada, 2nd person, Singular)

• तत्प्रभावम्: their power/effect
• तत्प्रभावम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तत् + प्रभाव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन (Masculine, Accusative, Singular)

• अशेषतः: completely
• अशेषतः: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अशेषतस् (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रकारवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: entirely, without remainder)

Speaker

Unspecified in snippet (a listener/devotee addressing the narrator; within Kāśī Khaṇḍa typically a question posed to Skanda)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Fourteen Liṅgas of Kāśī (beginning with Skanda-liṅga and Dakṣeśvara-liṅga)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A questioning sage, uplifted and radiant as if liberated, asks for the complete power of fourteen Kāśī liṅgas—beginning with Skanda and Dakṣeśvara—while a divine narrator prepares to explain.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Skanda
• Dakṣeśvara
• Liṅgas (fourteen)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Understanding Kāśī’s kṣetra-tattva and the Liṅgas established there leads toward jīvanmukti; the text urges complete knowledge of their māhātmya.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as a kṣetra, specifically its network of revered Śiva-Liṅgas including Dakṣeśvara.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The implied practice is attentive hearing (śravaṇa) and learning the Liṅga-māhātmya as part of tīrtha-oriented devotion.