Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

इत्यगस्त्युदितं श्रुत्वा महादेवतनूद्भवः । कथयामास या यत्र स्थिताऽनंदवने मुदा

Transliteration

ityagastyuditaṃ śrutvā mahādevatanūdbhavaḥ | kathayāmāsa yā yatra sthitā'naṃdavane mudā

Translation

അഗസ്ത്യൻ പറഞ്ഞത് കേട്ട് മഹാദേവന്റെ ദേഹത്തിൽ നിന്നുദ്ഭവിച്ചവൻ (നന്ദി) ആനന്ദവനത്തിൽ ആനന്ദത്തോടെ ഏത് ദേവത എവിടെ നിലകൊള്ളുന്നു എന്ന് വിവരിക്കാൻ തുടങ്ങി।

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• इति: Vakyopasamhara (वाक्योपसंहार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: उक्तिसूचक अव्यय (quotative particle)

• अगस्त्य-उदितम्: (words) spoken by Agastya
• अगस्त्य-उदितम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अगस्त्य-उदित (प्रातिपदिक; अगस्त्येन उदितम्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; तृतीया/षष्ठ्यर्थ-तत्पुरुष—"by Agastya spoken"; विशेषणम् (श्रुत्वा इत्यस्य कर्म)

• श्रुत्वा: having heard
• श्रुत्वा: Kriya (पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभाव; पूर्वक्रिया

• महादेव-तनू-उद्भवः: one born from Mahādeva’s body
• महादेव-तनू-उद्भवः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महादेव-तनू-उद्भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष—"महादेवस्य तनूः तस्याः उद्भवः"

• कथयामास: narrated, told
• कथयामास: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कथय् (धातु; कथ् + णिच्)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• याः: which (goddesses)
• याः: Karma (कर्म/विषय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धबोधक (relative)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Desha-adhikarana (देशाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक अव्यय (where)

• स्थिताः: are situated
• स्थिताः: Kriya (क्रिया/अवस्था)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; "याः" इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• आनन्दवने: in the grove of bliss (Ānandavana)
• आनन्दवने: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आनन्द-वन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष/कर्मधारयार्थ—"आनन्दस्य वनम्"

• मुदा: with joy
• मुदा: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुदा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; भावे—"with joy"

Speaker

Narrator (contextual), introducing Skanda’s reply

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Ānandavana (within Avimukta, Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Agastya

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The speaker—born from Mahādeva’s own body—begins, with delight, to narrate the placements of deities across Ānandavana; sages listen in a luminous forest with hints of liṅgas and ghāṭas beyond.

Characters & Entities

• Agastya
• Mahādeva (Śiva)
• Skanda
• Ānandavana

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is a consciously ordered sacred realm; learning its divine geography is itself a devotional act.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Ānandavana, the famed sacred grove within the Kāśī landscape, is explicitly mentioned.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; this verse transitions into Skanda’s descriptive teaching.