Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 72

Devanagari script

षड्विंशद्रागरागिण्य इति रागि मुदावहाः । देशकाल विभेदेन पंचषष्टिस्तथा पराः

Transliteration

ṣaḍviṃśadrāgarāgiṇya iti rāgi mudāvahāḥ | deśakāla vibhedena paṃcaṣaṣṭistathā parāḥ

Translation

ഇരുപത്താറ് പ്രധാന രാഗങ്ങളും രാഗിണികളും രസികനെ ആനന്ദിപ്പിക്കുന്നു; ദേശ-കാല വ്യത്യാസങ്ങളാൽ കൂടാതെ അറുപത്തഞ്ച് അധിക ഭേദങ്ങളും ഉണ്ടെന്ന് പറയുന്നു.

Word by Word

• ṣaḍviṃśat: twenty-six
• ṣaḍviṃśat: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣaḍ-viṃśat (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्यावाचक-विशेषणम्; स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचनम् (fem. nominative plural) — रागिण्यः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• rāga-rāgiṇyaḥ: female rāgas / rāgiṇīs of rāgas
• rāga-rāgiṇyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāga + rāgiṇī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा बहुवचनम् (fem. nominative plural)

• iti: thus; called
• iti: Sambandha (Quotation marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: इति-शब्दः; उद्धरण/समाप्त्यर्थक-अव्ययम् (quotative particle)

• rāgi: (they are) ‘rāgi’
• rāgi: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāgi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा एकवचनम् (masc. nominative singular) — नामरूपेण (as a label)

• mudā-āvahāḥ: bringing joy
• mudā-āvahāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mudā + ā√vah (धातु) → āvaha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा बहुवचनम् (masc. nominative plural) — रागाः/रागिण्यः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्; ‘mudā’ तृतीया-एकवचन-रूपेण उपपदत्वेन (instrumental used in compound)

• deśa-kāla: of place and time
• deśa-kāla: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deśa + kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी एकवचनम् (masc. genitive singular) — ‘of place and time’

• vibhedena: by (their) distinction/variation
• vibhedena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vibheda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया एकवचनम् (masc. instrumental singular)

• paṃcaṣaṣṭiḥ: sixty-five
• paṃcaṣaṣṭiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: paṃca-ṣaṣṭi (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा एकवचनम् (fem. nominative singular) — संख्या (a number)

• tathā: likewise; also
• tathā: Sambandha (Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; प्रकार/समुच्चयार्थक (adverb: likewise/also)

• parāḥ: others; additional
• parāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा बहुवचनम् (fem. nominative plural) — (रागिण्यः) इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

Speaker

Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative, typically Skanda speaking to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A Kāśī setting where learned singers enumerate rāgas and rāgiṇīs before a Śiva emblem, suggesting that musical taxonomy itself is an offering.

Characters & Entities

• Oṃkāra (as thematic focus in the surrounding verses)
• Kāśī (implied by Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred sound is presented as vast and structured; devotion can be refined through disciplined musical/nādalike order, supporting worship of Śiva in Kāśī.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the overarching sacred setting; the surrounding passage points toward Oṃkāra-liṅga worship within the Kāśī-māhātmya stream.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual is prescribed here; it frames the taxonomy of rāgas/rāgiṇīs as a devotional backdrop to sound-based worship.