Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 56

Devanagari script

प्रतिग्रामं प्रतिपुरं प्रत्यध्वं प्रतिकाननम् । प्रत्याश्रमं प्रतिगिरिं श्रांता त्वद्वीक्षणातुरा

Transliteration

pratigrāmaṃ pratipuraṃ pratyadhvaṃ pratikānanam | pratyāśramaṃ pratigiriṃ śrāṃtā tvadvīkṣaṇāturā

Translation

ഗ്രാമം ഗ്രാമമായി, നഗരം നഗരമായി, ഓരോ വഴിയും ഓരോ കാടും കടന്ന്; ആശ്രമം ആശ്രമമായി, പർവ്വതം പർവ്വതമായി ഞാൻ അലഞ്ഞു. നിന്റെ ദർശനലാലസയാൽ മാത്രം ഞാൻ ക്ഷീണിതയും വ്യാകുലയും ആയി.

Word by Word

• prati-grāmam: in/through each village
• prati-grāmam: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरणार्थ)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prati (अव्यय) + grāma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अव्ययपूर्वपद; grāma-आधारः (स्थानवाचक) ; अर्थे—‘प्रत्येकं ग्रामम्/ग्रामं ग्रामं’

• prati-puram: in/through each town
• prati-puram: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरणार्थ)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prati (अव्यय) + pura (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अर्थे—‘प्रत्येकं पुरम्/पुरं पुरम्’

• prati-adhvam: along every road
• prati-adhvam: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरणार्थ)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prati (अव्यय) + adhvan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; adhvan-शब्दः (पन्था/मार्गः); अर्थे—‘प्रत्येकं मार्गम्/मार्गं मार्गम्’

• prati-kānanam: in every forest
• prati-kānanam: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरणार्थ)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prati (अव्यय) + kānana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अर्थे—‘प्रत्येकं काननम्/वनं वनम्’

• prati-āśramam: to/at every hermitage
• prati-āśramam: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरणार्थ)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prati (अव्यय) + āśrama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अर्थे—‘प्रत्येकम् आश्रमम्’

• prati-girim: to/at every mountain
• prati-girim: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरणार्थ)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prati (अव्यय) + giri (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अर्थे—‘प्रत्येकं गिरिम्/गिरिं गिरिम्’

• śrāntā: (I am) exhausted
• śrāntā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śrānta (कृदन्त; √śram श्रम्)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; ‘श्रान्ता’ = थकिता

• tvat-vīkṣaṇa-āturā: distressed for seeing you
• tvat-vīkṣaṇa-āturā: Karta (Subject complement/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tvat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + vīkṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक; √īkṣ ईक्ष्) + ātura (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः: tvat-vīkṣaṇa = ‘त्वदीक्षण’ (your seeing); तत्पुरुषः: tvat-vīkṣaṇa-āturā = ‘त्वदीक्षणेन आतुरा’; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

Speaker

A royal mother/queen (rājapatnī), speaking to her son

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A weary seeker traverses villages, cities, roads, forests, hermitages, and mountains—dusty feet, travel staff, eyes fixed ahead with aching longing for a single sight.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (implied by Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Intense longing (viraha) becomes a disciplined, all-consuming focus—turning travel and hardship into a dharmic quest.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is framed within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, implying Kāśī’s sacred landscape as the backdrop, though no single tīrtha is named in this line.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the emphasis is on devoted searching and the austerity-like endurance of separation.