Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 67

Devanagari script

साधारणांभसा पूर्णां साधारण नदीमिव । पश्यंति नास्तिका गंगां पापोपहतलोचनाः

Transliteration

sādhāraṇāṃbhasā pūrṇāṃ sādhāraṇa nadīmiva | paśyaṃti nāstikā gaṃgāṃ pāpopahatalocanāḥ

Translation

പാപം മൂലം ദൃഷ്ടി മങ്ങിയ നാസ്തികർ ഗംഗയെ സാധാരണ ജലത്തോടെ നിറഞ്ഞ ഒരു സാധാരണ നദിപോലെ തന്നെയാണ് കാണുന്നത്।

Word by Word

• साधारण: with ordinary/common
• साधारण: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: साधारण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (instrumental qualifier)

• अम्भसा: water
• अम्भसा: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अम्भस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन

• पूर्णाम्: filled, full
• पूर्णाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूर्ण (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √पॄ (धातु) + क्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying नदीम्/गङ्गाम्)

• साधारणाम्: ordinary/common
• साधारणाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: साधारण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying नदीम्)

• नदीम्: river
• नदीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नदी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• इव: like, as if
• इव: Sambandha (Comparative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमा-अव्ययम् (particle of comparison)

• पश्यन्ति: see
• पश्यन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √पश् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकारः (Present), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd person), बहुवचन

• नास्तिकाः: atheists, unbelievers
• नास्तिकाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नास्तिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), बहुवचन

• गङ्गाम्: Ganga
• गङ्गाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गङ्गा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• पापोपहतलोचनाः: whose eyes are afflicted by sin
• पापोपहतलोचनाः: Karta (Subject qualifier/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाप-उपहत-लोचन (प्रातिपदिक; पाप + उपहत (√हन् + उप + क्त) + लोचन)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहिवत् विशेषणम् (describing नास्तिकाः)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā) at Kāśī

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer audience (ṛṣi/śaunaka-style setting typical of Purāṇas)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: On a Kāśī ghāṭa, the radiant Gaṅgā flows with a subtle divine aura; a few devotees bow with folded hands while a skeptical onlooker, eyes dimmed, sees only common water.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacredness is perceived through purity and faith; sin and denial reduce a divine tīrtha to something merely mundane.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Gaṅgā as a supreme tīrtha, especially as encountered within the Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) sacred landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is prescribed here; the verse stresses inner qualification (purity/faith) for rightly perceiving the tīrtha.