Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 40

Devanagari script

विदध्यात्षोडशे वर्षे केशांतकर्म च क्रमात् । द्वाविंशे च चतुर्विंशे गार्हस्थ्य प्रतिपत्तये

Transliteration

vidadhyātṣoḍaśe varṣe keśāṃtakarma ca kramāt | dvāviṃśe ca caturviṃśe gārhasthya pratipattaye

Translation

പതിനാറാം വയസ്സിൽ ക്രമമായി കേശാന്തകർമ്മം നിർവഹിക്കണം; ഇരുപത്തിരണ്ടാം മുതൽ ഇരുപത്തിനാലാം വയസ്സിൽ ഗാർഹസ്ഥ്യാശ്രമം സ്വീകരിക്കണം.

Word by Word

• विदध्यात्: should perform/arrange
• विदध्यात्: Pradhana-kriya (Main action/प्रधानक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि + धा (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ्-लकार (optative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• षोडशे: in the sixteenth
• षोडशे: Adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षोडश (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; संख्यावाचक विशेषण

• वर्षे: year
• वर्षे: Adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• केशान्तकर्म: the hair-cutting rite (keśānta)
• केशान्तकर्म: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: केशान्त + कर्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (केशानां अन्तः/छेदनं यस्मिन् तत्)

• च: and
• च: Discourse particle (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक

• क्रमात्: in due order
• क्रमात्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावे प्रयोगः (ablatival adverb: ‘in due order’)

• द्वाविंशे: in the twenty-second
• द्वाविंशे: Adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वाविंश (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; संख्यावाचक विशेषण

• च: and
• च: Discourse particle (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक

• चतुर्विंशे: in the twenty-fourth
• चतुर्विंशे: Adhikarana (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्विंश (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; संख्यावाचक विशेषण

• गार्हस्थ्य: householder-hood (gārhasthya)
• गार्हस्थ्य: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गार्हस्थ्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• प्रतिपत्तये: for entering/attaining
• प्रतिपत्तये: Sampradana (Purpose/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रतिपत्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, typically Skanda instructing Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A young brahmacārin undergoes keśānta (first shaving/tonsure rite) with a teacher on a Kāśī ghat; in the background, a wedding procession hints at later gṛhastha entry.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Dharma is lived through orderly life-stages (āśramas) and timely saṃskāras, aligning personal growth with sacred tradition.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The passage is situated in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī-centered teaching environment rather than naming a single tirtha in this verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Keśānta-saṃskāra at age sixteen, followed by entering gārhasthya between ages twenty-two and twenty-four.