Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 160

Devanagari script

अष्टम्यां च चतुर्दश्यां तीर्थानि सह सागरैः । षष्टि कोटि सहस्राणि मत्स्योदर्यां विशंति हि

Transliteration

aṣṭamyāṃ ca caturdaśyāṃ tīrthāni saha sāgaraiḥ | ṣaṣṭi koṭi sahasrāṇi matsyodaryāṃ viśaṃti hi

Translation

അഷ്ടമിയും ചതുര്ദശിയും തിഥികളിൽ സർവ്വ തീർത്ഥങ്ങളും സാഗരങ്ങളോടുകൂടി നിശ്ചയമായും മത്സ്യോദരിയിൽ പ്രവേശിക്കുന്നു—ഷഷ്ടി കോടി സഹസ്രങ്ങളുടെ പരിമാണത്തിൽ.

Word by Word

• अष्टम्याम्: on the eighth (lunar day)
• अष्टम्याम्: Adhikaraṇa (Location/Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अष्टमी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• चतुर्दश्याम्: on the fourteenth (lunar day)
• चतुर्दश्याम्: Adhikaraṇa (Location/Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चतुर्दशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• तीर्थानि: holy places
• तीर्थानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• सह: together with
• सह: Sahakāraka (Accompaniment/सह)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सह (अव्यय)
• Form: सह-योगे अव्ययम्; तृतीया-सहचर्य (governs instrumental)

• सागरैः: with the oceans
• सागरैः: Sahakāraka (Accompaniment/सह)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सागर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• षष्टि: sixty
• षष्टि: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षष्टि (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्या; (विशेषण) ‘कोटि’ इत्यस्य

• कोटि: crores
• कोटि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कोटि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (अर्थतः: कोटयः)

• सहस्राणि: thousands
• सहस्राणि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• मत्स्योदर्याम्: in Matsyodarī (place/region)
• मत्स्योदर्याम्: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मत्स्य + उदरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• विशन्ति: enter
• विशन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: विश् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन

• हि: indeed
• हि: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle; emphasis/indeed)

Speaker

Narrative voice (within Skanda’s Kāśī discourse)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Matsyodarī

Type: kund

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sacred pond/ghāṭa named Matsyodarī shimmering under moonlit tithi nights; streams of luminous ‘tīrtha-essence’ symbolically flow into it from distant rivers and oceans, depicted as personified waters entering a single basin.

Characters & Entities

• Tīrthas
• Sāgaras (Oceans)
• Matsyodarī
• Aṣṭamī
• Caturdaśī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī’s sacred waters intensify on specific lunar days, concentrating the merit of many tīrthas into one place.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Matsyodarī, presented as a Kāśī tīrtha where countless sacred waters converge.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Observance of Aṣṭamī and Caturdaśī as especially potent days for tīrtha-related acts such as snāna (ritual bathing) and pilgrimage worship.