Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 76

Devanagari script

परो हि नियमश्चैष मां विलोक्य यदश्यते । मामनालोक्य यद्भुक्तं तद्भुक्तं केवलत्वघम्

Transliteration

paro hi niyamaścaiṣa māṃ vilokya yadaśyate | māmanālokya yadbhuktaṃ tadbhuktaṃ kevalatvagham

Translation

ഈ നിയമം സത്യമായും പരമം—എന്നെ ദർശിച്ചശേഷം മാത്രമേ ആഹാരം കഴിക്കേണ്ടത്; എന്നെ ദർശിക്കാതെ കഴിച്ചതെല്ലാം സ്വകേന്ദ്രിത പാപം മാത്രമാണ്.

Word by Word

• paraḥ: supreme
• paraḥ: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — Nominative singular

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय — निपात (indeed)

• niyamaḥ: observance, rule
• niyamaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: niyama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — Nominative singular

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय — समुच्चय (and)

• eṣaḥ: this
• eṣaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — Pronoun: this

• mām: me
• mām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aham (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन — Accusative singular (me)

• vilokya: having looked at
• vilokya: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi√lok (धातु) + lyap (कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त — ल्यप् (क्त्वा-प्रत्ययार्थक) अव्ययभाव: Absolutive/gerund (having seen)

• yat: what (that which)
• yat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — Relative pronoun: what/that which

• aśyate: is eaten
• aśyate: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √aś (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/लट्), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन — is eaten

• mām: me
• mām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aham (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया, एकवचन — Accusative singular

• an-ālokya: without looking at
• an-ālokya: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: an (नञ्) + ā√lok (धातु) + lyap (कृत्)
• Form: कृदन्त — नञ्-पूर्वक ल्यप् (absolutive): without looking (at)

• yat: what
• yat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — Relative pronoun

• bhuktam: eaten
• bhuktam: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhuj (धातु) + kta (कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — eaten (ppp)

• tat: that
• tat: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — Demonstrative pronoun: that

• bhuktam: is (considered) eaten
• bhuktam: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhuj (धातु) + kta (कृत्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — eaten

• kevalatva-gham: mere sin / sheer fault
• kevalatva-gham: Visheshya (Predicate complement/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kevalatva (प्रातिपदिक) + agha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन — Nominative/Accusative singular; तत्पुरुषः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: kevalatvasya agham)

Speaker

Śiva (Īśvara)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-Avimukta (Viśvanātha-darśana as daily niyama)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (typical)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee stands before a Śiva icon in Kāśī at dawn, taking darśana; only then he sits to eat a simple meal, treating it as prasāda.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Darśana
• Niyama
• Agha (sin)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Food becomes dharmic when rooted in remembrance and darśana of the Divine; consumption without God-consciousness is condemned as spiritually harmful.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the implied sacred setting where Śiva’s presence (darśana) is central to daily religious life and merit.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A niyama is taught: one should take food only after beholding Śiva (and by implication, after offering/acknowledging the deity).