Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

अगस्त्य उवाच । स्वकार्यनिपुणैः स्वामिन्गीर्वाणैरतिदारुणैः । त्याजितोहं पुरीं काशीं हरो त्याक्षीत्कुतः प्रभुः

Transliteration

agastya uvāca | svakāryanipuṇaiḥ svāmingīrvāṇairatidāruṇaiḥ | tyājitohaṃ purīṃ kāśīṃ haro tyākṣītkutaḥ prabhuḥ

Translation

അഗസ്ത്യൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ സ്വാമീ! സ്വന്തം കാര്യം സാധിപ്പിക്കാൻ നിപുണരായെങ്കിലും അത്യന്തം കഠിനരായ ദേവന്മാർ എന്നെ കാശീപുരി ഉപേക്ഷിക്കാൻ നിർബന്ധിച്ചു; എന്നാൽ പരമപ്രഭുവായ ഹരൻ അതെങ്ങനെ ഉപേക്ഷിക്കും?

Word by Word

• अगस्त्यः: Agastya
• अगस्त्यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अगस्त्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/परिपूर्णभूत), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद; धातु: वच्—‘वदने’

• स्वकार्यनिपुणैः: by those skilled in their own tasks
• स्वकार्यनिपुणैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्व + कार्य + निपुण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः—‘स्वकार्ये निपुणाः’

• स्वामिन्: O lord
• स्वामिन्: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वामिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (vocative), एकवचन

• गीर्वाणैः: by the gods
• गीर्वाणैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गीर्वाण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; ‘देवैः’

• अतिदारुणैः: by very cruel (ones)
• अतिदारुणैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अति + दारुण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; कर्मधारयः—‘अत्यन्तं दारुणाः’

• त्याजितः: was made to abandon / was expelled
• त्याजितः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: णिच्-प्रत्ययान्त (causative) + क्त (past passive participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘त्याजितः’ = ‘त्यक्तः/परित्यक्तः’

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• पुरीम्: the city
• पुरीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• काशीम्: Kāśī
• काशीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; पुरीम् इति विशेष्यस्य विशेषणवत्

• हरः: Hara (Śiva)
• हरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• त्याक्षीत्: would abandon / abandoned
• त्याक्षीत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद; धातु: त्यज्—‘परित्यागे’

• कुतः: how/whence
• कुतः: Hetu/Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कुतस् (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्न-अव्यय (interrogative adverb)

• प्रभुः: the Lord
• प्रभुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

Agastya

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Skanda (implied interlocutor in the surrounding dialogue)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Agastya, dignified and austere, addresses the Lord with a rhetorical challenge: he himself was compelled to leave Kāśī by the gods, but how could Hara ever leave? The scene carries debate-like intensity within devotion.

Characters & Entities

• Agastya
• Kāśī
• Gīrvāṇa (Devas)
• Hara (Śiva)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is presented as inseparable from Śiva’s lordship; even if humans are displaced, Śiva’s bond with the kṣetra remains supreme.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), framed as Śiva’s own city.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; this verse begins a narrative inquiry (praśna) about Kāśī and Śiva.