Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 74

Devanagari script

यामाख्या मे गणाः संति घोरा विकृतमूर्त्तयः । मूषायां ते धमंत्यादौ क्षेत्रदुष्कृतकारिणः

Transliteration

yāmākhyā me gaṇāḥ saṃti ghorā vikṛtamūrttayaḥ | mūṣāyāṃ te dhamaṃtyādau kṣetraduṣkṛtakāriṇaḥ

Translation

‘യാമ’ എന്ന പേരിലുള്ള എന്റെ ഗണങ്ങൾ ഭയങ്കരരും വികൃതരൂപികളുമാണ്. ക്ഷേത്രപരിസരത്തിൽ ദുഷ്കൃത്യം ചെയ്തവരെ അവർ ആദ്യം ചൂളയിൽ ഊതി ദഹിപ്പിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• यामाख्याः: named ‘Yāma’
• यामाख्याः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: याम + आख्या (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (यामस्य आख्या इति)

• मे: my
• मे: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• गणाः: groups, attendants
• गणाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• सन्ति: are
• सन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• घोराः: terrible
• घोराः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (गणाः)

• विकृतमूर्त्तयः: of distorted forms
• विकृतमूर्त्तयः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विकृत + मूर्ति (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मधारयः (विकृता मूर्तिः येषाम्/विकृत-मूर्तयः)

• मूषायाम्: in a furnace/crucible
• मूषायाम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मूषा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• ते: they
• ते: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा, बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• धमन्ति: blow, fan
• धमन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: धम् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• आदौ: at first, in the beginning
• आदौ: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक-क्रियाविशेषण (adverb of time)

• क्षेत्रदुष्कृतकारिणः: doing evil deeds in the sacred field (Kṣetra)
• क्षेत्रदुष्कृतकारिणः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षेत्र + दुष्कृत + कारिन् (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः (क्षेत्रे दुष्कृतं कुर्वन्ति इति)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A grim procession of distorted, terrifying Yāma-gaṇas dragging sinners; a blazing furnace (mūṣā) where they are forced toward the fire, set against a distant silhouette of Kāśī’s sacred skyline to contrast holiness and transgression.

Characters & Entities

• Yāma-gaṇa
• kṣetra

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The holiness of Kāśī demands reverence; abusing the kṣetra is depicted as attracting severe corrective consequences.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī-kṣetra (the sacred field of Vārāṇasī) as a morally charged landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it describes punitive afterlife processes rather than a rite.