Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 51

Devanagari script

एतल्लिंगाभिधा देवि महापद्यपि दुःखहृत् । रहस्यं परमं चैतत्क्षेत्रस्यास्य वरानने

Transliteration

etalliṃgābhidhā devi mahāpadyapi duḥkhahṛt | rahasyaṃ paramaṃ caitatkṣetrasyāsya varānane

Translation

ഹേ ദേവീ, മഹാവിപത്തിൽ പോലും ഈ ലിംഗത്തിന്റെ നാമോച്ചാരണം/ജ്ഞാനം ദുഃഖം അകറ്റുന്നു. ഹേ സുന്ദരമുഖീ, ഇതാണ് ഈ ക്ഷേത്രത്തിന്റെ പരമ രഹസ്യം.

Word by Word

• etat: this
• etat: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; (liṃgābhidhāyāḥ विशेषणम्)

• liṃgābhidhā: the designation/name of the liṅga
• liṃgābhidhā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: liṃga-abhidhā (प्रातिपदिक; liṃga + abhidhā)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (liṃgasya abhidhā)

• devi: O Goddess
• devi: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: devī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• mahāpadi: in great calamity
• mahāpadi: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā-pada (प्रातिपदिक; mahā + pada)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय (mahā eva padaṃ)

• api: even; also
• api: Sambandha-bodhaka (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपि-अर्थक-अव्यय (particle: ‘also/even’)

• duḥkhahṛt: remover of sorrow
• duḥkhahṛt: Predicate adjective (Vidheyaviśeṣaṇa/विधेयविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: duḥkha-hṛt (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; duḥkha + √hṛ (हृ) + क्विप्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; क्विप्-प्रत्ययान्त (agent noun), षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (duḥkhasya hartā)

• rahasyam: secret
• rahasyam: Karma/Predicate nominal (Object/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rahasya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन

• paramam: supreme
• paramam: Viśeṣaṇa (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying rahasyam)

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• etat: this
• etat: Anuvāda (Resumptive/अनुवाद)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन

• kṣetrasya: of the sacred field
• kṣetrasya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• asya: of this
• asya: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• varānane: O fair-faced one
• varānane: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vara-ānana (प्रातिपदिक; vara + ānana)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय (varaṃ ānanaṃ yasyāḥ)

Speaker

Śiva (addressing Devī/Pārvatī; conveyed within Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī (liṅga-nāma-rahasya)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pārvatī (Devī)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Devī is addressed tenderly (‘varānane’). A devotee in distress (storm, illness, or social calamity) chants the liṅga-name; sorrow lifts as a soft radiance emanates from a Kāśī liṅga shrine.

Characters & Entities

• Devī
• Kāśī-kṣetra
• Liṅga

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Remembrance or invocation of the sacred liṅga connected to Kāśī has immediate power to remove suffering.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The Kāśī-kṣetra as a whole, especially its liṅga-centered sanctity.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicit practice: nāma-smaraṇa (recitation/remembering the liṅga’s name), especially in times of distress.