Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 61

Devanagari script

चिदाकाशवहाचिंत्या चंचच्चामरवीजिता । चोरिताशेषवृजिना चरिताशेषमंडला

Transliteration

cidākāśavahāciṃtyā caṃcaccāmaravījitā | coritāśeṣavṛjinā caritāśeṣamaṃḍalā

Translation

അവൾ ചിദാകാശത്തിൽ സഞ്ചരിക്കുന്ന അചിന്ത്യ ദേവി; ചഞ്ചല ചാമരങ്ങളാൽ അവൾക്ക് വീശപ്പെടുന്നു. അവൾ എല്ലാ പാപങ്ങളെയും കവർന്ന് നീക്കുന്നു; എല്ലാ മണ്ഡലങ്ങളിലൂടെയും—ലോകക്ഷേത്രങ്ങളിലൂടെയും—സഞ്ചരിച്ചു സർവ്വത്ര വ്യാപിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• चिदाकाशवहा: bearing the sky of consciousness
• चिदाकाशवहा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चित् (प्रातिपदिक) + आकाश (प्रातिपदिक) + वह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (चिदाकाशं वहति/वहति इव)

• अचिन्त्या: unthinkable, inconceivable
• अचिन्त्या: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ (निषेध) + चिन्त्य (कृदन्त; चिन्त् धातु + य)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; य-प्रत्ययान्त (to be thought) + नञ् (unthinkable)

• चंचत्: moving, fluttering
• चंचत्: Sambandha (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चञ्चत् (कृदन्त; चल् धातु)
• Form: अव्यय-प्राय/विशेषणरूपेण; वर्तमानकृदन्त (present participle)

• चामरवीजिता: fanned with a yak-tail fan
• चामरवीजिता: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चामर (प्रातिपदिक) + वीजित (कृदन्त; वीज्/वीज् धातु ‘to fan’ + क्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (चामरेण वीजिता)

• चोरिताशेषवृजिना: by whom all sin is removed
• चोरिताशेषवृजिना: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चोरित (कृदन्त; चुर्/चोरय् धातु + क्त) + अशेष (प्रातिपदिक) + वृजिन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (अशेषं वृजिनं चोरितं/अपहृतं येन/यया)

• चरिताशेषमण्डला: who has traversed all spheres
• चरिताशेषमण्डला: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चरित (कृदन्त; चर् धातु + क्त) + अशेष (प्रातिपदिक) + मण्डल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (अशेषं मण्डलं चरितं/पर्यटितं यस्याः)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage audience seeking Kāśī’s salvific secret

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Devī enthroned, fanned by waving cāmaras, yet her true form expands as a vast sky of consciousness enveloping all worlds; dark stains of sin dissolve as if silently lifted away.

Characters & Entities

• Devī (Śakti)
• Kāśī (contextual)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Goddess is transcendent Consciousness; remembering her dissolves sin and expands the devotee’s awareness beyond limited thought.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the overarching sacred landscape of this chapter’s stuti in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is detailed; the verse supports nāma-recitation and contemplative remembrance for pāpa-kṣaya.