Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 45

Devanagari script

समासाद्य च मध्याह्नमभियांति च नित्यशः । संस्नातुं सर्वतीर्थानि मुक्तिदां मणिकर्णिकाम्

Transliteration

samāsādya ca madhyāhnamabhiyāṃti ca nityaśaḥ | saṃsnātuṃ sarvatīrthāni muktidāṃ maṇikarṇikām

Translation

മധ്യാഹ്നം വന്നാൽ, സർവ്വ തീർത്ഥങ്ങളും നിത്യമായി മോക്ഷദായിനിയായ മണികർണികയിൽ സ്നാനം ചെയ്യാൻ വരുന്നു.

Word by Word

• समासाद्य: having reached/arrived at
• समासाद्य: पूर्वकाल (Prior action)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम्-आ-सद् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund/absolutive)

• च: and
• च: सम्बन्ध (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-निपात (conjunction)

• मध्याह्नम्: midday
• मध्याह्नम्: कर्म (Karma/Object; time reached)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्याह्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कालवाचक

• अभियान्ति: go/come towards
• अभियान्ति: क्रिया (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अभि-या (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• च: and
• च: सम्बन्ध (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-निपात (conjunction)

• नित्यशः: daily/constantly
• नित्यशः: क्रिया-विशेषण (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: शस्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (adverbial)

• संस्नातुम्: to bathe
• संस्नातुम्: प्रयोजन (Purpose)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम्-स्ना (धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (infinitive)

• सर्वतीर्थानि: all the tīrthas
• सर्वतीर्थानि: कर्ता (Karta/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक) + तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; कर्मधारय

• मुक्तिदाम्: granting liberation
• मुक्तिदाम्: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मुक्ति (प्रातिपदिक) + दा (धातु, णिनि-प्रत्यय; दायिन्-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; विशेषण; (मुक्तिं ददाति इति)

• मणिकर्णिकाम्: Maṇikarṇikā (tīrtha)
• मणिकर्णिकाम्: कर्म (Karma/Object; destination)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मणिकर्णिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Midday at Maṇikarṇikā: blazing sun over the ghāṭ; sacred waters shimmer; personified tīrthas arrive daily to bathe; the atmosphere carries a profound liberation-current amid the city’s intense ritual life.

Characters & Entities

• Maṇikarṇikā
• Kāśī
• Sarva-tīrtha
• Mukti (liberation)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Maṇikarṇikā is proclaimed as intrinsically mokṣa-bestowing, so exalted that all tīrthas are poetically said to seek its purifying bath daily.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Maṇikarṇikā in Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), explicitly called ‘muktidā’ (giver of liberation).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Midday bathing (madhyāhna-snāna) at Maṇikarṇikā, presented as a daily sacred convergence.