Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31

Devanagari script

शक्तस्य पंडितस्यापि गुणिनो दानशीलिनः । गंगास्नानविहीनस्य हरे जन्म निरर्थकम्

Transliteration

śaktasya paṃḍitasyāpi guṇino dānaśīlinaḥ | gaṃgāsnānavihīnasya hare janma nirarthakam

Translation

ഹേ ഹരി! ശേഷിയുള്ളവനും പണ്ഡിതനും ഗുണവാനും ദാനശീലനും ആയാലും—ഗംഗാസ്നാനം ഇല്ലെങ്കിൽ അവന്റെ മനുഷ്യജന്മം (ഇവിടെ) വ്യർത്ഥമാകുന്നു.

Word by Word

• शक्तस्य: of a capable (man)
• शक्तस्य: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), एकवचन; विशेषण (used substantively)

• पण्डितस्य: of a learned man
• पण्डितस्य: Shashthi-sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पण्डित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• अपि: even, also
• अपि: Emphasis/Addition (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपेक्षार्थ-अव्यय (particle: 'even/also')

• गुणिनः: of a virtuous one
• गुणिनः: Shashthi-sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुणिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• दानशीलिनः: of one whose nature is generosity
• दानशीलिनः: Shashthi-sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दान (प्रातिपदिक) + शीलिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (दानस्य शीलं यस्य)

• गङ्गा-स्नान-विहीनस्य: of one devoid of bathing in the Ganga
• गङ्गा-स्नान-विहीनस्य: Shashthi-sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गङ्गा (प्रातिपदिक) + स्नान (प्रातिपदिक) + विहीन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (गङ्गायां स्नानेन विहीनः)

• हरे: O Hari
• हरे: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हरि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन

• जन्म: birth, life
• जन्म: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• निरर्थकम्: meaningless, futile
• निरर्थकम्: Predicate (विधेय-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निरर्थक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण (predicate adjective)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gaṅgā-snān (Kāśī stretch implied)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Kāśī-focused audience within the chapter’s discourse

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A didactic scene: a learned, charitable householder stands at the Gaṅgā’s edge, realizing the need for snāna; a compassionate divine presence (Hari invoked) witnesses; the river appears as the completing sacrament of life.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā
• Hari

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

In tīrtha-māhātmya logic, Gaṅgā-snāna is a decisive purifier that crowns other virtues with salvific efficacy.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gaṅgā as the preeminent bathing-tīrtha, implicitly in the Kāśī region celebrated in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Gaṅgā-snāna (ritual bathing in the Gaṅgā) is directly praised as essential.