Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 85

Devanagari script

धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाख्यं पुरुषार्थचतुष्टयम् । अखंडं हि यथा काश्यां न तथा न्यत्र कुत्रचित्

Transliteration

dharmārthakāmamokṣākhyaṃ puruṣārthacatuṣṭayam | akhaṃḍaṃ hi yathā kāśyāṃ na tathā nyatra kutracit

Translation

ധർമ്മം, അർത്ഥം, കാമം, മോക്ഷം എന്ന നാലു പുരുഷാർത്ഥങ്ങളും കാശിയിൽ അഖണ്ഡമായി ലഭിക്കുന്നു; മറ്റെവിടെയും അങ്ങനെ അല്ല।

Word by Word

• धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाख्यम्: called ‘dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa’
• धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाख्यम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + अर्थ (प्रातिपदिक) + काम (प्रातिपदिक) + मोक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + आख्य (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; समासः—धर्म-अर्थ-काम-मोक्ष-आख्य (नामधेयवाचकः)

• पुरुषार्थचतुष्टयम्: the fourfold aims of man
• पुरुषार्थचतुष्टयम्: Karma/Pradhana (Object/Predicate nominal)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुषार्थ (प्रातिपदिक; पुरुष+अर्थ, तत्पुरुष) + चतुष्टय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; समासः—पुरुषार्थ-चतुष्टय

• अखण्डम्: undivided, complete
• अखण्डम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अखण्ड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन

• हि: indeed
• हि: Sambandha (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), अव्यय; हेत्वर्थ/निश्चयार्थ

• यथा: as
• यथा: Sambandha (Comparative marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमान/प्रकारवाचक (as/just as)

• काश्याम्: in Kāśī
• काश्याम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक निपात (negation particle)

• तथा: so, in that way
• तथा: Sambandha (Correlative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक (thus/so)

• अन्यत्र: elsewhere
• अन्यत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक (elsewhere)

• कुत्रचित्: anywhere (at all)
• कुत्रचित्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कुत्रचित् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अनिश्चित-देशवाचक (anywhere/somewhere)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī/Avimukta-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and Ṛṣis (typical) / in-text interlocutors (contextual)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A panoramic vision of Kāśī as a luminous kṣetra: the Gaṅgā’s crescent, ghāṭas, temples, and a radiant Viśveśvara shrine at the center, with the four puruṣārthas symbolically personified as attendants converging into mokṣa-light.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Puruṣārtha (Dharma, Artha, Kāma, Mokṣa)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī uniquely integrates worldly welfare and liberation, making it a complete sacred field for all four human goals.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), praised as the unsurpassed kṣetra where the puruṣārthas are obtained in fullness.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific rite is prescribed here; the verse establishes Kāśī’s exceptional spiritual efficacy as a place.