Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 26

Devanagari script

तापनेःसुतपो वह्निज्वालाप्रज्वलितैनसः । संवीक्ष्य त्र्यक्ष साक्षात्त्वां कृतकृत्या बभूविम

Transliteration

tāpaneḥsutapo vahnijvālāprajvalitainasaḥ | saṃvīkṣya tryakṣa sākṣāttvāṃ kṛtakṛtyā babhūvima

Translation

അഗ്നിജ്വാലകളെപ്പോലെ ജ്വലിക്കുന്ന പാപങ്ങളാൽ ദഹിച്ച് ഞങ്ങൾ കഠിനതപസ് ചെയ്തു. ഓ ത്രിനേത്രാ! നിന്നെ സാക്ഷാത് ദർശിച്ച് ഞങ്ങൾ കൃതകൃത്യരായി—ഞങ്ങളുടെ ലക്ഷ്യം സിദ്ധമായി.

Word by Word

• तापनेः: of Tāpan(a)
• तापनेः: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तापन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (नाम), षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध/6th case), एकवचन; ‘of Tāpan(a)’ (proper name)

• सुतपः: Sutapas (name) / one of good austerity
• सुतपः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुतपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता/1st case), एकवचन; ‘one of good austerity’/name

• वह्निज्वालाप्रज्वलितैनसः: whose sin was inflamed by the flame of fire
• वह्निज्वालाप्रज्वलितैनसः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वह्नि + ज्वाला + प्रज्वलित + एनस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता/1st case), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः: ‘वह्निज्वालया प्रज्वलितम् एनः यस्य’ (sense approaches bahuvrīhi, but form used adjectivally as determinative)

• संवीक्ष्य: having beheld
• संवीक्ष्य: Kriya (Prior action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + वीक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund), ‘having seen’

• त्र्यक्ष: O Three-eyed One
• त्र्यक्ष: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्र्यक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (vocative), एकवचन; शिवनाम ‘three-eyed’

• साक्षात्: directly, in person
• साक्षात्: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: साक्षात् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, प्रकार/सन्निधिवाचक (adverb) ‘directly, in person’

• त्वाम्: you
• त्वाम्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, द्वितीया (कर्म/2nd case), एकवचन

• कृतकृत्याः: fulfilled, having accomplished what should be done
• कृतकृत्याः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृत + कृत्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता/1st case), बहुवचन; कर्मधारयः ‘कृतं कृत्यं येषाम्’ = fulfilled

• बभूविम: we became
• बभूविम: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), उत्तमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद; ‘we became’

Speaker

Pilgrims/supplicants (addressing Śiva in Kāśī; contextually within Skanda’s narration to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Śiva-sākṣāt-darśana context)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Devotees appear singed by metaphorical flames—dark smoke-like aura of sin dissipating—while Śiva, three-eyed, manifests in luminous form; the fire imagery transforms into a cool, clear radiance as they become ‘kṛtakṛtya’.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva (Tryakṣa)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

When sin is purified through tapas and grace, direct vision of Śiva grants completion—spiritual life reaches its intended goal.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Within Kāśī-māhātmya, the stress is on Śiva’s immediate accessibility in Kāśī through darśana (implicitly linked with Dharmēśvara in the preceding verse).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Tapas (austerity) is referenced as a purifying discipline leading to Śiva-darśana.