Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 56

Devanagari script

मांसाशिनः पुरोडाशे नैवान्यत्र कदाचन । न दुरोदरिणो यत्र नाधमर्णा न तस्कराः

Transliteration

māṃsāśinaḥ puroḍāśe naivānyatra kadācana | na durodariṇo yatra nādhamarṇā na taskarāḥ

Translation

മാംസാഹാരികൾ പുരോഡാശയാഗത്തിന്റെ പ്രസംഗത്തിൽ മാത്രമേ കാണപ്പെടൂ; മറ്റെപ്പോഴും അല്ല. ആ ദേശത്ത് ചൂതാട്ടക്കാർ ഇല്ല, അധമ കടക്കാരില്ല, കള്ളന്മാരുമില്ല.

Word by Word

• māṃsa-āśinaḥ: meat-eaters
• māṃsa-āśinaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: māṃsa (प्रातिपदिक) + √aś (धातु) + in (प्रत्यय) → āśin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• puroḍāśe: in/at the puroḍāśa (offering/food)
• puroḍāśe: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puroḍāśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• eva: indeed/just
• eva: Sambandha (Emphasis/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• anyatra: elsewhere
• anyatra: Adhikaraṇa (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: anyatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देश/स्थान-अव्यय (adverb: elsewhere)

• kadācana: ever/at any time
• kadācana: Kāla (Time/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kadācana (अव्यय)
• Form: काल-अव्यय (adverb: ever/at any time)

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• dur-odariṇaḥ: gluttons/people of bad belly (voracious)
• dur-odariṇaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dur (अव्यय-उपसर्ग/पूर्वपद) + udara (प्रातिपदिक) + in (प्रत्यय) → odarin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्ध/स्थान-अव्यय (relative adverb: where)

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• adhama-arṇāḥ: base debtors/low borrowers
• adhama-arṇāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adhama (प्रातिपदिक) + arṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• taskarāḥ: thieves
• taskarāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: taskara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrim-audience / ṛṣi assembly

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A clean, orderly Kāśī street near a temple: merchants honest, no dice-game corners, no thieves lurking; a small Vedic altar scene indicates ritual food-offering boundaries; the city appears safe and luminous.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• puroḍāśa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

A holy realm is marked by restraint and ethical purity—freedom from vice, exploitation, and crime.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is praised as a city where dharma naturally prevails in social life.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse alludes to Vedic offerings (puroḍāśa) as the proper ritual context, contrasting it with ordinary indulgence.