Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 83

Devanagari script

पारावारप्रसृमर हस्त न्यस्तारि मोदकाम् । द्वीपि कृत्तिपरीधानां कटुकाट्टाट्टहासिनीम्

Transliteration

pārāvāraprasṛmara hasta nyastāri modakām | dvīpi kṛttiparīdhānāṃ kaṭukāṭṭāṭṭahāsinīm

Translation

അവളുടെ കൈ പാരാവാരത്തോളം വ്യാപിച്ചു; അതിൽ ശത്രുവിന്റെ ‘മോദകം’ വെച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. പുലിച്ചർമ്മം വസ്ത്രമാക്കി ധരിച്ചു, കടുത്ത ‘ആട്ടാട്ട’ നാദംപോലെ ഉഗ്രമായി അട്ടഹസിക്കുന്നു।

Word by Word

• pārāvāra-prasṛmara: spreading across the ocean/shore-to-shore
• pārāvāra-prasṛmara: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pārāvāra-prasṛmara (प्रातिपदिक; पारावार + प्रसृमर)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; ‘पारावारं प्रसृमरः’ = spreading to the far shore/through the ocean

• hastaḥ: hand
• hastaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hasta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• nyasta-ari-modakām: whose modaka (sweet) is placed for/over the foe (epithet)
• nyasta-ari-modakām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nyasta-ari-modakā (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक; न्यस्त + अरि + मोदका)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; ‘न्यस्तः अरिः (शत्रुः) मोदकः यस्याः’ / ‘अरि-न्यस्त-मोदका’ (interpretive epithet)

• dvīpi-kṛtti-parīdhānām: wearing a leopard-skin garment
• dvīpi-kṛtti-parīdhānām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvīpi-kṛtti-parīdhānā (प्रातिपदिक; द्वीपिन् + कृत्ति + परिधान)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; ‘द्वीपिनः कृत्तिः परिधानं यस्याः’ = wearing leopard-skin

• kaṭu-kāṭṭāṭṭa-hāsinīm: laughing with a harsh ‘kāṭṭāṭṭa’ sound
• kaṭu-kāṭṭāṭṭa-hāsinīm: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kaṭu-kāṭṭāṭṭa-hāsinī (प्रातिपदिक; कटु + काट्टाट्ट + हासिनी)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; ‘कटु(तीक्ष्ण)-काट्टाट्ट-हासः यस्याः’ (onomatopoetic loud laugh)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The Devī, clad in leopard skin, extends a far-reaching arm holding the foe’s ‘sweet morsel’ (symbolic trophy/offer), and releases a harsh, cracking laughter that shakes the air; attendants recoil as obstacles dissolve at the boundary of Kāśī.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī-kṣetra
• Guardian Devī (contextual)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The kṣetra’s guardians embody uncompromising protection—fierce forms symbolize the cutting off of hostility and adharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Kāśī-kṣetra guardianship narrative continues; this verse focuses on the guardian’s form rather than naming a new tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse serves as a descriptive dhyāna of the protective Devī.