Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 36
Devanagari script
न मोक्षलक्ष्म्योत्र समक्षमीक्षितास्तनूभृता केनचिदेव कुत्रचित् । अवैम्यहं शर्मद सर्वशर्मदा सरूपिणी मुक्तिरसौ हि काशिका
Transliteration
na mokṣalakṣmyotra samakṣamīkṣitāstanūbhṛtā kenacideva kutracit | avaimyahaṃ śarmada sarvaśarmadā sarūpiṇī muktirasau hi kāśikā
Translation
ദേഹധാരികൾക്ക് ‘മോക്ഷലക്ഷ്മി’ ഇത്ര പ്രത്യക്ഷമായി മറ്റെവിടെയും കാണപ്പെടുന്നില്ല. സർവക്ഷേമവും ആനന്ദവും നൽകുന്ന കാശിക തന്നെയാണ് ദൃശ്യരൂപത്തിലുള്ള മുക്തി എന്ന് ഞാൻ അറിഞ്ഞു.
Word by Word
nanot
na:
Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootna (निपात)
Formनिषेध-निपात
mokṣa-lakṣmīḥthe fortune of liberation
mokṣa-lakṣmīḥ:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootmokṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + lakṣmī (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘मोक्षलक्ष्मी’ = fortune of liberation; Feminine nominative singular
utrahere
utra:
Desha (Adverbial/देश)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootutra (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय (deictic adverb) = here/there; in this context ‘here’
samakṣamin front/manifestly
samakṣam:
Desha (Adverbial/देश)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootsamakṣa (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययार्थ)
Formअव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) ‘समक्षम्’ = in presence, before the eyes
īkṣitāseen
īkṣitā:
Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootīkṣ (ईक्ष्) (धातु)
Formकृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय, भूतकर्मणि), स्त्रीलिङ्ग प्रथमा एकवचन; past passive participle ‘seen’ (agreeing with mokṣalakṣmīḥ)
tanū-bhṛtāby any embodied being
tanū-bhṛtā:
Karana (Instrument/करण)
TypeNoun
Roottanū (प्रातिपदिक) + bhṛ (भृ) (धातु/प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘तनूभृत्’ = embodied being; Instrumental singular ‘by an embodied being’
kenacitby anyone
kenacit:
Karana (Instrument/करण)
TypeNoun
Rootkim (किम्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
Formसर्वनाम, तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; enclitic -cit (indefinite): ‘by anyone’
evaindeed/ever
eva:
Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
TypeIndeclinable
Rooteva (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय, अवधारण (emphatic particle)
kutracitanywhere
kutracit:
Desha (Adverbial/देश)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootkutra (अव्यय) + cit (निपात)
Formअव्यय (interrogative/indefinite adverb) ‘anywhere’
avaimiI know
avaimi:
Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootava-√i (अव+इ) (धातु)
Formलट् (वर्तमान), उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद; 1st sg present: ‘I know/understand’
ahamI
aham:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootasmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
Formसर्वनाम, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; Nominative singular
śarma-dāmbliss-giving
śarma-dām:
Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Rootśarman (प्रातिपदिक) + dā (दा)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘शर्मदा’ = giver of bliss/comfort; (address/qualifier)
sarva-śarma-dāmgiver of all happiness
sarva-śarma-dām:
Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Rootsarva (प्रातिपदिक) + śarman (प्रातिपदिक) + dā (दा)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: giver of all happiness
sa-rūpiṇīof the same nature/form
sa-rūpiṇī:
Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
TypeAdjective
Rootsa (सह) + rūpinī (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; Karmadhāraya: ‘सरूपिणी’ = having the same form/nature (as Kāśī); Feminine nominative singular
muktiḥliberation
muktiḥ:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootmukti (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; Feminine nominative singular
asauthat (very)
asau:
Samanadhikarana (Apposition/समानाधिकरण)
TypeNoun
Rootadas (अदस्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
Formसर्वनाम, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; demonstrative ‘that/this (yonder)’
hiindeed
hi:
Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
TypeIndeclinable
Roothi (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय, हेत्वर्थ/निश्चयार्थ (indeed/for)
kāśikāKāśikā (Kāśī)
kāśikā:
Samanadhikarana (Apposition/समानाधिकरण)
TypeNoun
Rootkāśikā (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; Feminine nominative singular
Speaker
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda to Agastya)
Characters & Entities
K
KāśikāK
KāśīM
Mukti (Liberation)FAQs
Kāśī is not merely a means to liberation; it is portrayed as liberation itself, accessible to embodied beings.
Kāśī (Kāśikā), revered as mukti-svarūpa—liberation in embodied form.
No specific rite is prescribed; the verse stresses direct spiritual realization through Kāśī’s sanctity.