Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 26

Devanagari script

यावदित्थं चिंतयति स त्वाष्ट्रो वनमध्यगः । तावत्तदेव संप्राप्तस्तेनैकोऽदर्शि तापसः

Transliteration

yāvaditthaṃ ciṃtayati sa tvāṣṭro vanamadhyagaḥ | tāvattadeva saṃprāptastenaiko'darśi tāpasaḥ

Translation

ເມື່ອບຸດຂອງ ທວາສະຕຣິ (Tvāṣṭra) ກຳລັງຄິດພິຈາລະນາຢູ່ກາງປ່າດົງ, ໃນຂະນະນັ້ນເອງ ນັກບຳເພັນຕະປະຜູ້ດຽວກໍໄດ້ມາຮອດ ແລະປາກົດໃຫ້ເຂົາເຫັນ।

Word by Word

• yāvat: as long as, while
• yāvat: Sambandha (Temporal relation/कालसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; काल-परिमाणार्थक (temporal limit: 'as long as/while')

• ittham: thus, in this way
• ittham: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ittham (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (manner adverb)

• ciṃtayati: he thinks, reflects
• ciṃtayati: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ciṃt (चिन्त् धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• tvāṣṭraḥ: Tvāṣṭra (son/descendant of Tvaṣṭṛ)
• tvāṣṭraḥ: Karta (Apposition to subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvāṣṭra (त्वाष्ट्र प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• vana: of the forest
• vana: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vana (वन प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन (समासाङ्ग)

• madhyagaḥ: gone into the middle (of)
• madhyagaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier of saḥ/tvāṣṭraḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: madhya + ga (मध्य + ग प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; समासः—मध्यं गच्छति/गतः इति (one who has gone to the middle)

• tāvat: then, meanwhile
• tāvat: Sambandha (Correlative temporal relation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; तावत्-तावद् (correlative: 'then/so long')

• tat: that
• tat: Karma (Object, in sense 'that [one]')
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन (समासाङ्ग)

• eva: indeed, just
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारणार्थक निपात (emphatic particle)

• saṃprāptaḥ: arrived, reached
• saṃprāptaḥ: Karta (Predicate adjective of tāpasaḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sam + √prāp (प्राप् धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त; भूतकृदन्त (क्त); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• tena: by him, with him
• tena: Hetu/Instrument (Means/with him)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक; तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• ekaḥ: one, a certain
• ekaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier of tāpasaḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (एक प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• adarśi: was seen, appeared
• adarśi: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √dṛś (दृश् धातु)
• Form: लुङ् (Aorist), आत्मनेपद; प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन (अदर्शि = 'was seen/appeared')

• tāpasaḥ: an ascetic
• tāpasaḥ: Karta (Subject of adarśi)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāpasa (तापस प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator (Skanda speaking to Agastya, implied by Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)

Characters & Entities

• Tvāṣṭra
• Tāpasa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

When a seeker is inwardly contemplating, guidance appears—often through a realized ascetic—by the quiet working of dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader context is the Kāśīkhaṇḍa (glorification of Kāśī/Varanasi), though this verse itself sets the scene in a forest before the Kāśī teaching unfolds.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse; it introduces the moment of meeting the ascetic who will later instruct.