Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 110

Devanagari script

कार्तिकस्य चतुर्दश्यां विश्वेशं यो विलोकयेत् । स्नात्वा चोत्तरवाहिन्यां न तस्य पुनरागतिः

Transliteration

kārtikasya caturdaśyāṃ viśveśaṃ yo vilokayet | snātvā cottaravāhinyāṃ na tasya punarāgatiḥ

Translation

കാർത്തിക ചതുര്ദശിയിൽ ആരെങ്കിലും വിശ്വേശ്വരനെ ദർശിച്ച് ഉത്തരവാഹിനീ ഗംഗയിൽ സ്നാനം ചെയ്താൽ, അവന് വീണ്ടും വരവ് (പുനർജന്മം) ഇല്ല.

Word by Word

• kārtikasya: of (the month) Kārtika
• kārtikasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kārtika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th case), एकवचन; मास-नाम (name of month)

• caturdaśyām: on the fourteenth lunar day
• caturdaśyām: Adhikarana (Time locus/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: caturdaśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th case), एकवचन; तिथि-नाम

• viśveśam: Viśveśa (Lord of the universe)
• viśveśam: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśveśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd case), एकवचन; देव-नाम

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक-सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• vilokayet: should behold
• vilokayet: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi + lok (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष? (actually 3rd person), एकवचन; धातु: लोक् (to see) उपसर्ग: वि

• snātvā: having bathed
• snātvā: Kriya-visheshana (Prior action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: snā (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (absolutive/gerund), 'स्नात्वा' = having bathed

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

• uttaravāhinyām: in the north-flowing (river)
• uttaravāhinyām: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: uttara (प्रातिपदिक) + vāhinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th case), एकवचन; समासः—कर्मधारय: 'उत्तरं वाहिनी' (north-flowing river, i.e., Gaṅgā at Kāśī)

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय

• tasya: for him/of him
• tasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th case), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• punar-āgatiḥ: return (rebirth) again
• punar-āgatiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: punar (अव्यय) + āgati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन; समासः—अव्ययीभाव: 'पुनः आगतिः'

Speaker

Skanda (contextual; Kāśīkhaṇḍa instruction)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Uttaravāhinī Gaṅgā (Kāśī) and Viśveśvara

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Kārtika twilight-to-dawn: pilgrims bathe in a north-flowing bend of the Gaṅgā, lamps floating; then a devotee beholds Viśveśa’s liṅga in sanctum glow, suggesting ‘no return’ through a radiant upward path.

Characters & Entities

• Kārtika
• Caturdaśī
• Viśveśa (Viśvanātha)
• Uttaravāhinī Gaṅgā
• Kāśī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Time (Kārtika), place (Kāśī), and deity (Viśveśvara) together magnify spiritual fruit culminating in liberation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī: Viśveśvara’s shrine and the uttaravāhinī flow of the Gaṅgā at Vārāṇasī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Darśana of Viśveśvara on Kārtika caturdaśī and snāna in the uttaravāhinī Gaṅgā.