Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 54

Devanagari script

वाच्यवाचकसंबंधो गायत्र्याः सवितुर्द्वयोः । वाच्योसौ सविता साक्षाद्गायत्रीवाचिकापरा

Transliteration

vācyavācakasaṃbaṃdho gāyatryāḥ saviturdvayoḥ | vācyosau savitā sākṣādgāyatrīvācikāparā

Translation

ഗായത്രിയും സവിതാവും—ഇരുവര്ക്കും വാച്യ-വാചകബന്ധമുണ്ട്. വാച്യം സാക്ഷാൽ സവിതാ തന്നേ; ഗായത്രി പരമ വാചിക (പ്രകാശക വാണി) ആകുന്നു.

Word by Word

• vācya-vācaka-saṃbandhaḥ: the relation of denoted and denoter
• vācya-vācaka-saṃbandhaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vācya + vācaka + saṃbandha (वाच्य + वाचक + सम्बन्ध; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; द्वन्द्व-समास (वाच्यश्च वाचकश्च तयोः सम्बन्धः)

• gāyatryāḥ: of Gāyatrī
• gāyatryāḥ: Sambandha (genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gāyatrī (गायत्री; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन

• savituḥ: of Savitṛ (the Sun)
• savituḥ: Sambandha (genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: savitṛ (सवितृ; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन

• dvayoḥ: of the two
• dvayoḥ: Sambandha (genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvi (द्वि; संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), द्विवचन; numeral 'of the two'

• vācyaḥ: the denoted (meaning)
• vācyaḥ: Karta (Subject/identificand)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vācya (वाच्य; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण used substantively: 'the denoted'

• asau: that (he)
• asau: Karta (Subject/apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adas (अदस्; सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; demonstrative pronoun

• savitā: Savitṛ
• savitā: Samānādhikaraṇa (apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: savitṛ (सवितृ; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• sākṣāt: directly
• sākṣāt: Kriya-vishesana (adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sākṣāt (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb): 'directly/in person'

• gāyatrī-vācikā: denoting through Gāyatrī
• gāyatrī-vācikā: Visheshana (predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: gāyatrī + vācikā (गायत्री + वाचिका; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (गायत्र्या वाचिका = denoter by Gāyatrī)

• aparā: the other (i.e., the denoter)
• aparā: Visheshana (predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aparā (अपर; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण (predicate): 'other/second'

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A conceptual scene: the mantra ‘Gāyatrī’ appears as a luminous script-stream (vācaka) flowing into a radiant solar deity Savitṛ (vācya). A meditator sits between sound-waves and sun-rays, showing the bridge from word to meaning.

Characters & Entities

• Gāyatrī
• Savitṛ (Sūrya)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Mantra and deity are inseparable: Gāyatrī is the sacred utterance, and Savitṛ is the divine reality it reveals.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Within Kāśī-khaṇḍa, this doctrinal point supports Kāśī’s reputation as a foremost seat of mantra, worship, and liberation.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It undergirds Gāyatrī-japa as direct worship of Savitṛ, by asserting the mantra-deity identity through vācya-vācaka relation.