Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 78

Devanagari script

महतो नियमस्यास्य भवतानुष्ठितस्य वै । नार्हंति षोडशी मात्रामप्यन्ये नियमा यमाः

Transliteration

mahato niyamasyāsya bhavatānuṣṭhitasya vai | nārhaṃti ṣoḍaśī mātrāmapyanye niyamā yamāḥ

Translation

നീ അനുഷ്ഠിച്ച ഈ മഹാനിയമത്തിന് മുന്നിൽ മറ്റു യമ-നിയമങ്ങൾ അതിന്റെ പതിനാറിലൊന്നിനും തുല്യമല്ല.

Word by Word

• mahataḥ: of the great
• mahataḥ: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन — Genitive singular (of the great)

• niyamasya: of the observance
• niyamasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: niyama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन — Genitive singular

• asya: of this
• asya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन — Pronoun: of this

• bhavatā: by you
• bhavatā: Karana (Agent-instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhavat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन — Instrumental singular (by you, sir)

• anuṣṭhitasya: performed, observed
• anuṣṭhitasya: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: anu√sthā (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त), पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन — Past participle in genitive: of (that which is) performed

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

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय — निषेध (negation)

• arhanti: are worthy (of)
• arhanti: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √arh (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन — are worthy/are able to match

• ṣoḍaśīm: sixteenth
• ṣoḍaśīm: Visheshana (Numeral modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣoḍaśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — Accusative singular (sixteenth)

• mātrām: a measure, a fraction
• mātrām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mātrā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — Accusative singular (measure/portion)

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय — निपात (even)

• anye: other
• anye: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन — Nominative plural (others)

• niyamāḥ: observances
• niyamāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: niyama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन — Nominative plural

• yamāḥ: restraints
• yamāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन — Nominative plural

Speaker

Śiva (Īśvara)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-Avimukta (niyama-mahātmyam)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (typical)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic scale: one side holds many ‘yama-niyama’ scrolls; the other holds a single Kāśī-niyama vow, outweighing them—set against a Viśvanātha shrine.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Jaigīṣavya
• Yama
• Niyama

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotion-centered discipline is portrayed as surpassing many formal ethical and ascetic practices when it directly anchors life in God-remembrance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī’s devotional ethos is reinforced—where Śiva-centered living is presented as the highest rule.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse extols the previously stated niyama (eating only after Śiva-darśana/after worship) as superior to other disciplines.