Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 73

Devanagari script

तापत्रितयसंहर्त्री तेजोबलविवर्धिनी । त्रिलक्ष्या तारणी तारा तारापतिकरार्चिता

Transliteration

tāpatritayasaṃhartrī tejobalavivardhinī | trilakṣyā tāraṇī tārā tārāpatikarārcitā

Translation

അവൾ ത്രിവിധ താപങ്ങളെ സംഹരിക്കുന്നവൾ, തേജസ്സും ബലവും വർദ്ധിപ്പിക്കുന്നവൾ. അവൾ ത്രിലക്ഷ്യാ—സകല ശുഭലക്ഷ്യങ്ങളുടെ ലക്ഷ്യം—താരിണി, മാർഗദർശക താര; താരാപതി (ചന്ദ്രൻ) കരാർചിത.

Word by Word

• तापत्रितयसंहर्त्री: destroyer of the threefold afflictions
• तापत्रितयसंहर्त्री: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ताप-त्रितय-संहर्त्री (प्रातिपदिक; ताप + त्रितय + संहर्त्री)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (तापत्रितयस्य संहर्त्री)

• तेजोबलविवर्धिनी: increaser of splendor and strength
• तेजोबलविवर्धिनी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तेजस्-बल-विवर्धिनी (प्रातिपदिक; तेजस् + बल + विवर्धिनी)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (तेजःबलयोः विवर्धिनी)

• त्रिलक्ष्या: the threefold mark/aim (name/epithet)
• त्रिलक्ष्या: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रि-लक्ष्या (प्रातिपदिक; त्रि + लक्ष्या)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः—द्विगुः (त्रयः लक्ष्याः/लक्ष्यरूपा)

• तारणी: the deliverer; savioress
• तारणी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तारणी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• तारा: Tārā (star; goddess-name)
• तारा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तारा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• तारापतिकरार्चिता: worshipped by the hand of Tārā’s lord
• तारापतिकरार्चिता: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तारा-पति-कर-अर्चित (कृदन्त; √अर्च् (धातु) + क्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (तारापतेः करेण अर्चिता)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Tāriṇī/Tārā) in Kāśī

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣi audience in the frame narrative

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Night-to-dawn on Kāśī ghāṭa: Gaṅgā as a radiant goddess holding a star-lamp; the Moon (Candra) offers worship; afflicted beings (symbolic of threefold suffering) are soothed as the river glows like a path across darkness.

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā
• Candra (Moon)
• Kāśī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Gaṅgā is both healer and guide: she removes suffering and leads the devotee across saṃsāra toward freedom.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gaṅgā at Kāśī, praised as a saving passage (tāraṇī) for pilgrims.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the focus is on stuti as a means to invoke relief from tāpatraya and gain inner strength.