Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 61

Devanagari script

विद्वद्भिश्च तपोनिष्ठास्तपोनिष्ठैर्जितेंद्रियाः । जितेंद्रियैर्ज्ञाननिष्ठा ज्ञानिभिः शिवयोगिनः

Transliteration

vidvadbhiśca taponiṣṭhāstaponiṣṭhairjiteṃdriyāḥ | jiteṃdriyairjñānaniṣṭhā jñānibhiḥ śivayoginaḥ

Translation

പണ്ഡിതന്മാർ തപോനിഷ്ഠരെ പോഷിക്കുന്നു; തപോനിഷ്ഠർ ഇന്ദ്രിയജയികളെ; ഇന്ദ്രിയജയികൾ ജ്ഞാനനിഷ്ഠരെ; ജ്ഞാനികൾ ശിവയോഗികളെ ആദരിച്ചു പിന്തുണയ്ക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• विद्वद्भिः: by/with the learned
• विद्वद्भिः: Karaṇa/Hetu (Instrument/Agentive means)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विद्वस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental/3rd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Conjunction)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (conjunction)

• तपोनिष्ठाः: those devoted to austerity
• तपोनिष्ठाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् + निष्ठा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)

• तपोनिष्ठैः: by/with the austerity-devoted
• तपोनिष्ठैः: Karaṇa/Hetu (Instrument/Association)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् + निष्ठा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental/3rd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• जितेन्द्रियाः: those who have conquered the senses
• जितेन्द्रियाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जित + इन्द्रिय (प्रातिपदिक; कृदन्त-विशेषण)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural); 'जित' = क्त (past passive participle) used adjectivally

• जितेन्द्रियैः: by/with the sense-conquerors
• जितेन्द्रियैः: Karaṇa/Hetu (Instrument/Association)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जित + इन्द्रिय (प्रातिपदिक; कृदन्त-विशेषण)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental/3rd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• ज्ञाननिष्ठाः: those devoted to knowledge
• ज्ञाननिष्ठाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ज्ञान + निष्ठा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)

• ज्ञानिभिः: by/with the knowers (jnānins)
• ज्ञानिभिः: Karaṇa/Hetu (Instrument/Association)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ज्ञानिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental/3rd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• शिवयोगिनः: Śiva-yogins (yogins of Śiva)
• शिवयोगिनः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिव + योगिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A four-tier tableau in Kāśī: scholars teaching; ascetics practicing tapas; disciplined practitioners restraining senses; contemplatives in meditation; culminating in Śiva-yogins absorbed before a liṅga or within a cremation-ground-like serenity.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Spiritual life is a continuum: learning supports austerity, austerity supports self-mastery, self-mastery supports knowledge, and knowledge culminates in Śiva-yoga.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is implied as a living ecosystem of seekers—scholars, ascetics, the self-controlled, knowers, and Śiva-yogins.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No single ritual; it prescribes disciplines—tapas, indriya-jaya (sense-control), jñāna-niṣṭhā, and Śiva-yoga.