Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31

Devanagari script

अथांतरिक्षगा देवी तस्य मार्गणमध्यगा । विद्युन्मालेव विबभौ महाभ्रपटलीधृता

Transliteration

athāṃtarikṣagā devī tasya mārgaṇamadhyagā | vidyunmāleva vibabhau mahābhrapaṭalīdhṛtā

Translation

അപ്പോൾ അന്തരീക്ഷത്തിൽ സഞ്ചരിക്കുന്ന ദേവി, അവന്റെ ശരംമദ്ധ്യത്തിൽ നിലകൊണ്ട്, മഹാമേഘപടലത്തിന്മേൽ വിരിയുന്ന വിദ്യുത്മാലപോലെ ദീപ്തയായി.

Word by Word

• अथ: then
• अथ: Sambandha (Discourse connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अनुक्रमसूचक (then)

• अन्तरिक्षगा: moving in the mid-air
• अन्तरिक्षगा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्तरिक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + गा (गम् धातु, टाप्/स्त्रीप्रत्ययान्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण; तत्पुरुषः (अन्तरिक्षे गा = going/being in the sky)

• देवी: the goddess
• देवी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• तस्य: of him
• तस्य: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• मार्गणमध्यगा: situated in the midst of (his) missiles/arrows
• मार्गणमध्यगा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मार्गण (प्रातिपदिक) + मध्य (प्रातिपदिक) + गा (गम् धातु, स्त्री)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण; तत्पुरुषः (मार्गणानां मध्ये गा)

• विद्युत्: lightning
• विद्युत्: Upamana (Standard of comparison/उपमान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विद्युत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (उपमानपदम्)

• माला: garland, streak
• माला: Upamana (Standard of comparison/उपमान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: माला (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (उपमानपदम्)

• इव: like
• इव: Upama-marker (Comparison)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमावाचक (comparative particle)

• विबभौ: shone
• विबभौ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भा (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

• महाभ्रपटलीधृता: bearing a mass of great clouds
• महाभ्रपटलीधृता: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा (अव्यय/उपसर्गवत्) + अभ्र (प्रातिपदिक) + पटली (प्रातिपदिक) + धृत (धृ धातु, क्त/कृदन्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; तत्पुरुषः (महाभ्रपटलीं धृता = ‘bearing a mass of great clouds’)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, typically Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis (frame implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Devī suspended in mid-air, centered within a storm of arrows; behind her a vast dark cloud-bank, yet she gleams like a lightning garland—white-blue radiance outlining her form, weapons, and ornaments.

Characters & Entities

• Devī (Goddess)
• Mārgaṇa (missiles)
• Vidyut (lightning)
• Megha/Abhra (clouds)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The Divine remains luminous even amid danger; dharma’s light is not extinguished by the weapons of adharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī’s māhātmya is supported through imagery of the Goddess’s victorious presence within its sacred narrative cycle.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.