Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

प्रसंगतोपि यन्नेत्रपथमानंदकाननम् । यातं तेत्र न जायंते नेक्षेरन्पितृकान नम्

Transliteration

prasaṃgatopi yannetrapathamānaṃdakānanam | yātaṃ tetra na jāyaṃte nekṣeranpitṛkāna nam

Translation

വെറും യാദൃശ്ചികമായാലും ആനന്ദകാനനം കണ്ണിന്റെ വഴിയിൽ വന്നാൽ, അവൻ വീണ്ടും ജന്മം സംഭവിക്കുന്ന ലോകത്തിലേക്ക് പോകുകയില്ല; പിതൃലോകത്തിലെ ‘പിതൃകാനനം’ എന്നും വീണ്ടും കാണുകയുമില്ല।

Word by Word

• प्रसङ्गतः: by chance/incidentally
• प्रसङ्गतः: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रसङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/पञ्चमी), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावार्थे ‘by chance/incidentally’

• अपि: even
• अपि: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle)

• यत्: which (relative)
• यत्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; सम्बन्धबोधक

• नेत्रपथम्: the range/path of sight
• नेत्रपथम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नेत्र (प्रातिपदिक) + पथ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: नेत्रस्य पथः); पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• आनन्दकाननम्: the blissful forest (Ānandakānana)
• आनन्दकाननम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आनन्द (प्रातिपदिक) + कानन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (आनन्दं काननम्); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन (सन्दर्भे कर्मरूपे)

• यातम्: having gone/visited
• यातम्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; ‘gone/visited’

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक (adverb of place)

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात (negation particle)

• जायन्ते: are born/arise
• जायन्ते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; आत्मनेपद

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-निपात

• ईक्षेरन्: would see
• ईक्षेरन्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ईक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• पितृकान्: ancestral spirits (pitṛs)
• पितृकान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन

• नाम: indeed/so-called
• नाम: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नाम (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, खलु/इति-प्राय (emphatic particle)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context: Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Ānandakānana

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-seeking interlocutors (ṛṣi assembly typical)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim pauses; through an arch of sacred trees the Ānandakānana grove appears, suffused with light; subtle imagery of broken chains (saṃsāra) and a fading pitṛ-forest in the distance.

Characters & Entities

• Ānandakānana
• Kāśī
• Pitṛs (ancestors)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Darśana of Kāśī’s sacred precincts is exalted as liberating—even accidental sight is said to bear mokṣa-oriented merit.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Ānandakānana, the ‘Delightful Grove’ associated with Kāśī’s sacred geography.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite; the emphasis is on darśana—seeing the holy grove/area as spiritually efficacious.