Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 4

Devanagari script

यदाकलानिधिः क्वापि दर्शे ऽदृश्यत्वमावहेत् । तदा स्वप्रेयसीं ज्योत्स्नां सौधेष्वेषु निगूहयेत्

Transliteration

yadākalānidhiḥ kvāpi darśe 'dṛśyatvamāvahet | tadā svapreyasīṃ jyotsnāṃ saudheṣveṣu nigūhayet

Translation

കലാനിധിയായ ചന്ദ്രൻ അമാവാസിയിൽ എവിടെയോ അദൃശ്യമാകുമ്പോൾ, അവൻ തന്റെ പ്രിയയായ ജ്യോത്സ്നയെ ഈ സൗധങ്ങളിലകത്ത് മറച്ചുവെക്കുന്നു।

Word by Word

• yadā: when
• yadā: Sambandha (Temporal relation/कालसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (temporal adverb: 'when')

• kalā-nidhiḥ: the moon (treasury of digits/arts)
• kalā-nidhiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kalā (प्रातिपदिक) + nidhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (kalānāṃ nidhiḥ)

• kvāpi: somewhere
• kvāpi: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kvāpi (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (indefinite locative adverb: 'somewhere/anywhere')

• darśe: on the new-moon day
• darśe: Adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: darśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; 'अमावास्या' अर्थे

• adṛśyatvam: invisibility
• adṛśyatvam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adṛśyatva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• āvahet: should bring about
• āvahet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√vah (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• tadā: then
• tadā: Sambandha (Temporal relation/कालसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (then)

• sva-preyasīm: his own beloved
• sva-preyasīm: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva (प्रातिपदिक) + preyasī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (स्वा च सा प्रेयसी)

• jyotsnām: moonlight
• jyotsnām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jyotsnā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• saudheṣu: in the mansions/palaces
• saudheṣu: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saudha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), बहुवचन

• eṣu: in these
• eṣu: Adhikarana (Location qualifier/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• nigūhayet: should conceal
• nigūhayet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni-√guh (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

Speaker

Gaṇas (context continues)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (implied city-mahātmya)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: New-moon night over Kāśī: the moon ‘vanishes’ yet a soft stored radiance glows from palace-terraces; moonlight personified as a beloved concealed within ornate mansions.

Characters & Entities

• Candra (Moon)
• Darśa (new moon)
• Jyotsnā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The site’s radiance is portrayed as inexhaustible—so luminous that even the Moon’s light seems stored there.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Sahasrākṣa-purī and its palatial complexes are being praised.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is an imaginative māhātmya description using lunar symbolism.