Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 46

Devanagari script

संचितं यद्धनं पुंभिर्नयसन्मार्गगामिभिः । तत्काश्यां विनियुज्येत क्लेशायेतरथा भवेत्

Transliteration

saṃcitaṃ yaddhanaṃ puṃbhirnayasanmārgagāmibhiḥ | tatkāśyāṃ viniyujyeta kleśāyetarathā bhavet

Translation

സന്മാർഗം വിട്ടു നടക്കുന്ന പുരുഷന്മാർ സമ്പാദിച്ച ധനം കാശിയിൽ ധർമ്മകാര്യത്തിന് വിനിയോഗിക്കണം; അല്ലെങ്കിൽ അതേ ധനം ക്ലേശത്തിന് കാരണമാകും.

Word by Word

• saṃcitam: accumulated
• saṃcitam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: saṃcita (कृदन्त; √ci सञ्चयने)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त) — past passive participle; used adjectivally qualifying ‘dhanam’

• yat: which
• yat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक (relative pronoun)

• dhanam: wealth
• dhanam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन

• puṃbhiḥ: by men
• puṃbhiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pumān (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन

• naya: policy; conduct
• naya: Samasa-purvapada (Compound member/समासपद)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; समासपूर्वपद

• sat: good; right
• sat: Samasa-madhyapada (Compound member/समासपद)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sat (प्रातिपदिक; √as सत्तायाम्)
• Form: समासपूर्वपद; ‘सत्’ = good/right

• mārga: path
• mārga: Samasa-madhyapada (Compound member/समासपद)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mārga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; समासपूर्वपद

• gāmibhiḥ: by those who follow the right path
• gāmibhiḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: gāmin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन; समासः = नय-सत्-मार्ग-गामिन् (तत्पुरुषः) ‘good-path-following’

• tat: that
• tat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; निर्देश (demonstrative) referring to ‘dhanam’

• kāśyām: in Kāśī
• kāśyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन

• viniyujyeta: should be employed/used
• viniyujyeta: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √yuj (युज् योगे/नियोजने)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; उपसर्गः वि-नि-

• kleśāya: for suffering
• kleśāya: Sampradana (Recipient/Purpose/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kleśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4), एकवचन; प्रयोजन/सम्प्रदानार्थ (for the purpose of)

• itarathā: otherwise
• itarathā: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: itarathā (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (adverb of manner)

• bhavet: would be; would become
• bhavet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (भू सत्तायाम्)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context, typically Skanda instructing Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Bhūpati (King)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A remorseful householder arrives at Kāśī’s ghāṭas with offerings; priests distribute food and cloth to pilgrims and the poor; Viśveśvara’s temple spire rises in the background, suggesting wealth transformed into merit.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Wealth gains purity and becomes dharmic when offered or used for sacred purposes in Kāśī; otherwise it turns into a source of distress.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), praised as a place where resources can be sanctified through dharmic use.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

A general prescription of dāna/holy expenditure in Kāśī—deploying one’s wealth there for meritorious acts.