Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 14

Devanagari script

उन्नतो मांसलोंगुष्ठो वर्तुलोतुलभोगदः । वक्रो ह्रस्वश्च चिपिटः सुखसौभाग्यभंजकः

Transliteration

unnato māṃsaloṃguṣṭho vartulotulabhogadaḥ | vakro hrasvaśca cipiṭaḥ sukhasaubhāgyabhaṃjakaḥ

Translation

ഉന്നതവും മാംസളവും വൃത്താകാരവുമായ വലിയ വിരൽ അതുല്യഭോഗസുഖം നൽകുന്നതായി പറയുന്നു. എന്നാൽ വളഞ്ഞതോ ചെറുതോ ചപ്പറ്റതോ ആയാൽ, അത് സുഖവും സൗഭാഗ്യവും തകർക്കുന്നതായി വിവരണം.

Word by Word

• उन्नतः: raised/high
• उन्नतः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उन्नत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• मांसल: fleshy
• मांसल: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मांसल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• अङ्गुष्ठः: thumb
• अङ्गुष्ठः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्गुष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• वर्तुल: round
• वर्तुल: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वर्तुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• उतुल: bulging/swollen
• उतुल: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उतुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• भोगदः: giver of enjoyment
• भोगदः: Visheshana (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भोग (प्रातिपदिक) + द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• वक्रः: crooked
• वक्रः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वक्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• ह्रस्वः: short
• ह्रस्वः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ह्रस्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• च: and
• च: Avyaya (Connector/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्ययम् (conjunction)

• चिपिटः: flat/pressed down
• चिपिटः: Visheshana (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चिपिट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचनम् (Singular)

• सुखसौभाग्यभंजकः: destroyer of happiness and good fortune
• सुखसौभाग्यभंजकः: Visheshana (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुख (प्रातिपदिक) + सौभाग्य (प्रातिपदिक) + भंजक (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; भञ्ज् धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचनम् (Singular); कृदन्तः—ण्वुल्/अक (agent-noun) from भञ्ज् (to break)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Close depiction of feet: a rounded, raised, fleshy big toe shown as auspicious; beside it, variants—crooked, short, flattened—shown as cautionary. A teacher gestures with a stylus, with Kāśī temple spires in the distance.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Prosperity and loss are portrayed as karmically patterned; one should cultivate dharma so that fortune supports spiritual progress rather than mere indulgence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the overarching sacred geography of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, though this verse itself is not a tīrtha-description.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse provides omens (lakṣaṇa) rather than instructions for vrata, dāna, or snāna.