Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 19

Devanagari script

हंहो किमंहो निचिताः प्रलब्धा बंहीयसायास भरेण काशीम् । प्रभूतपुण्यद्रविणैकपण्यां प्राप्यापि हित्वा क्व च गंतुमुद्यताः

Transliteration

haṃho kimaṃho nicitāḥ pralabdhā baṃhīyasāyāsa bhareṇa kāśīm | prabhūtapuṇyadraviṇaikapaṇyāṃ prāpyāpi hitvā kva ca gaṃtumudyatāḥ

Translation

ໂອ້ ບາບໜັກປານໃດ! ສະສົມບຸນ ແລະອົດທົນພາລະແຫ່ງຄວາມພາກພຽນອັນໃຫຍ່ ຈົນໄດ້ກາສີ—ຕະຫຼາດດຽວທີ່ບຸນອັນອຸດົມແມ່ນຊັບສິນແທ້—ແລ້ວເປັນໄປໄດ້ແນວໃດຈຶ່ງພ້ອມລະທິ້ງນາງ ແລະຈະໄປໃສອີກ?

Word by Word

• haṃho: alas!, oh!
• haṃho: Sambodhana/Exclamation (सम्बोधन/उद्गार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: haṃho (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्गार-अव्यय (interjection)

• kim: what? why?
• kim: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• aṃhaḥ: sin, distress
• aṃhaḥ: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aṃhas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• nicitāḥ: accumulated
• nicitāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni√ci (चि धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (Past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘संचिताः’

• pralabdhāḥ: obtained
• pralabdhāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra√labh (लभ् धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘प्राप्ताः’

• baṃhīyasa-āyāsa-bhareṇa: with the burden of excessive effort
• baṃhīyasa-āyāsa-bhareṇa: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: baṃhīyas (प्रातिपदिक; तुलनात्मक) + āyāsa (प्रातिपदिक) + bhara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; समासः—‘अधिक-आयासस्य भरः’ (burden of greater toil)

• kāśīm: Kāśī
• kāśīm: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• prabhūta-puṇya-draviṇa-eka-paṇyām: (Kāśī) the sole ‘commodity’ of abundant merit and wealth
• prabhūta-puṇya-draviṇa-eka-paṇyām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhūta (प्रातिपदिक) + puṇya (प्रातिपदिक) + draviṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + eka (प्रातिपदिक) + paṇya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—‘प्रभूतं पुण्यं द्रविणं च यस्याः, एकं पण्यं (विक्रेयवस्तु) इव’ (metaphor: sole commodity of abundant merit/wealth)

• prāpya: having attained
• prāpya: Kriya-visheshana (Converb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra√āp (आप् धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (Gerund), ‘प्राप्य’ = प्राप्त्वा

• api: even, also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्भावना/अपि-कारक (particle: even/also)

• hitvā: having abandoned
• hitvā: Kriya-visheshana (Converb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: hā (हा धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (Gerund), ‘त्यक्त्वा’

• kva: where?
• kva: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kva (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverb: where)

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय

• gantum: to go
• gantum: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (गम् धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्त (Infinitive)

• udyatāḥ: ready/intent (to set out)
• udyatāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ud√yam (यम् धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘उद्युक्ताः’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic bazaar where stalls offer ‘puṇya’ as jewels; Kāśī appears as a grand marketplace-city; travelers who try to leave carry empty bags, while those who stay receive luminous coins of merit.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Puṇya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is depicted as the supreme ‘market’ of spiritual wealth; leaving after reaching it wastes hard-earned merit and invites downfall.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), metaphorically the unique emporium of puṇya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse is an admonition against abandoning Kāśī once attained.