Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

यातायातातिसंखिन्न जंतुविश्राममंडपम । अनेकजन्मगुणित कर्मसूत्रच्छिदाक्षुरम्

Transliteration

yātāyātātisaṃkhinna jaṃtuviśrāmamaṃḍapama | anekajanmaguṇita karmasūtracchidākṣuram

Translation

ഇത് നിരന്തരമായ വരവ്-പോക്കാൽ അത്യന്തം ക്ഷീണിച്ച ജീവികൾക്ക് വിശ്രമമണ്ഡപം; അനേകം ജന്മങ്ങളിൽ നെയ്ത കർമ്മസൂത്രം മുറിക്കുന്ന തീക്ഷ്ണ ക്ഷുരധാര.

Word by Word

• yātāyāta-ati-saṃkhinna: utterly wearied by coming and going
• yātāyāta-ati-saṃkhinna: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yātāyāta (प्रातिपदिक) + ati (अव्यय/उपसर्गवत्) + saṃkhinna (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त/क्तवत्-भाव), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (यातायातेन अतिसंखिन्नम्)

• jantu-viśrāma-maṇḍapam: a pavilion of rest for beings
• jantu-viśrāma-maṇḍapam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jantu (प्रातिपदिक) + viśrāma (प्रातिपदिक) + maṇḍapa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (जन्तूनां विश्रामस्य मण्डपः)

• aneka-janma-guṇitam: multiplied through many births
• aneka-janma-guṇitam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aneka (प्रातिपदिक) + janman (प्रातिपदिक) + guṇita (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (अनेकजन्मभिः गुणितम्)

• karma-sūtra-chid-ākṣuram: a razor that cuts the thread of karma
• karma-sūtra-chid-ākṣuram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: karma (प्रातिपदिक) + sūtra (प्रातिपदिक) + chid (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक) + akṣura (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (कर्मसूत्रं छिनत्ति इति छिद्; तद्रूपम् अक्षुरम्)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (as viśrānti-sthāna and karma-ccheda-sthāna)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pavilion on the ghāṭa where weary beings rest; above, a symbolic blade (khadga) of wisdom/grace slices a woven thread labeled ‘karma’ spanning multiple births; the cut ends fall away like snapped cords.

Characters & Entities

• Karma-sūtra (thread of karma)
• Saṃsāra (implied)
• Kāśī-kṣetra (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is depicted as both consolation for saṃsāric fatigue and a decisive instrument that severs karmic bondage leading to liberation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), the mokṣa-kṣetra that ends the cycle of repeated births.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual; the focus is the kṣetra’s inherent power to dissolve accumulated karma.