Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 88

Devanagari script

यथाभूमितले विप्र पुर्यः संति सहस्रशः । तथा काशी न मंतव्या क्वापि लोकोत्तरात्वियम्

Transliteration

yathābhūmitale vipra puryaḥ saṃti sahasraśaḥ | tathā kāśī na maṃtavyā kvāpi lokottarātviyam

Translation

ഹേ വിപ്രാ! ഭൂമിതലത്തിൽ സഹസ്രങ്ങളായ നഗരങ്ങൾ ഉണ്ടായാലും, കാശിയെ എവിടെയും അവയിൽ ഒന്നായി മാത്രം കരുതരുത്; ഈ പുരി സത്യമായും ലോകോത്തരമാണ്.

Word by Word

• yathā: just as
• yathā: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; सम्बन्धबोधक/तुलनार्थक (correlative/comparative particle)

• bhūmi-tale: on the earth’s surface
• bhūmi-tale: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūmi (प्रातिपदिक) + tala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; भूतले = भूमेः तलम् (locative: on the ground-surface)

• vipra: O brāhmaṇa
• vipra: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• puryaḥ: cities
• puryaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: purī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• santi: are
• santi: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• sahasraśaḥ: by the thousands
• sahasraśaḥ: Visheshana (Adverbial qualifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sahasraśas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकार/परिमाणवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (adverb of multitude)

• tathā: so/likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; तदर्थक/तुलनार्थक (correlative: so/likewise)

• kāśī: Kāśī
• kāśī: Karma (Object of passive notion/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• na: not
• na: Nishedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक अव्यय (negation particle)

• mantavyā: should be considered
• mantavyā: Kriya (Obligation predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Verb
• Root: man (धातु) + tavya (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: तव्यत्-कृदन्त (gerundive/obligatory passive participle); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; भावे/कर्मणि प्रयोगः—‘(सा) मन्तव्या’ = should be considered

• kvāpi: anywhere
• kvāpi: Desha (Adverbial location/देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kva (अव्यय) + api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक अनिश्चितता (indefinite locative adverb: anywhere)

• lokottarā: transcendent, beyond the world
• lokottarā: Visheshana (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: loka (प्रातिपदिक) + uttara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन; लोकात् उत्तरा (beyond the world)

• tu: indeed/but
• tu: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण/विरोधार्थक (emphatic/contrastive particle)

• iyam: this (she/this city)
• iyam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम (demonstrative pronoun)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: A brāhmaṇa interlocutor

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A panoramic vision of Kāśī rising beyond the mundane earth—ghāṭas, temples, and a subtle halo suggesting ‘beyond the worlds’; a brāhmaṇa listener in reverence as the narrator declares its uniqueness.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Vipra (brāhmaṇa addressed)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is not ordinary geography; it is a transcendent sacred city whose holiness surpasses worldly categories.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī/Varanasi as a lokottara (otherworldly) sacred city.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is doctrinal praise (māhātmya) establishing Kāśī’s unique status.