Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 10

Devanagari script

इति धर्मवचः श्रुत्वा परोपकृतिनिर्मलम् । तानाहूय मुने शंभुर्विनयावनताननान्

Transliteration

iti dharmavacaḥ śrutvā paropakṛtinirmalam | tānāhūya mune śaṃbhurvinayāvanatānanān

Translation

പരോപകാരഭാവത്തിൽ നിർമ്മലമായ ധർമ്മവചനം കേട്ടിട്ട്, ഹേ മുനേ, ശംഭു വിനയത്തോടെ തലകുനിഞ്ഞവരെ വിളിച്ചു ചേർത്തു.

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha-bodhaka (Discourse marker/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: उक्त्यर्थक-अव्यय (quotative particle)

• धर्मवचः: the righteous words
• धर्मवचः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + वचस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः ‘words of dharma’

• श्रुत्वा: having heard
• श्रुत्वा: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: √श्रु (धातु) + त्वा (क्त्वा-प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (absolutive/gerund) ‘having heard’

• परोपकृतिनिर्मलम्: pure through benefitting others
• परोपकृतिनिर्मलम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक) + उपकृति (प्रातिपदिक) + निर्मल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः ‘pure due to helping others’ (धर्मवचः इति विशेषणम्)

• तान्: them
• तान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), बहुवचन; ‘them’

• आहूय: having summoned
• आहूय: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आ-√ह्वे (धातु) + ल्यप् (कृदन्त)
• Form: ल्यबन्त-अव्यय (gerund) ‘having called/summoned’

• मुने: O sage
• मुने: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• शंभुः: Śambhu (Śiva)
• शंभुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शंभु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• विनयावनताननान्: (those) with faces bowed in humility
• विनयावनताननान्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विनय (प्रातिपदिक) + अवनत (प्रातिपदिक/क्त) + आनन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः ‘with faces bowed in humility’ (तान् इति विशेषणम्)

Speaker

Narrator (Skanda in Kāśī-khaṇḍa narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: The addressed sage (mune) within the chapter’s narration

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śambhu, pleased, gestures to summon the humble supplicants whose faces are lowered; the atmosphere is calm, didactic, and sanctified, with a suggestion of a shrine courtyard in Kāśī.

Characters & Entities

• Śambhu (Śiva)
• Muni (Agastya—contextual listener)
• Dharma

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Altruistic, dharmic speech and humility draw divine attention—Śiva responds to purity of intention and vinaya.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The setting is Kāśī in the Skanda Purāṇa; the verse highlights the ethos of Kāśī’s dharma rather than naming a particular tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the verse emphasizes inner discipline—paropakāra and humility—as spiritual qualifications.