Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 24

Devanagari script

एकां गां यत्र दत्त्वा वै विधिवद्ब्राह्मणाय वै । लभेदयुत गोपुण्यं कस्तां काशीं त्यजेत्सुधीः

Transliteration

ekāṃ gāṃ yatra dattvā vai vidhivadbrāhmaṇāya vai | labhedayuta gopuṇyaṃ kastāṃ kāśīṃ tyajetsudhīḥ

Translation

എവിടെ വിധിപൂർവ്വം ബ്രാഹ്മണന് ഒരു പശുവിനെ ദാനം ചെയ്താൽ പത്തായിരം പശുദാനത്തിന്റെ പുണ്യം ലഭിക്കുന്നുവോ—അത്തരം കാശിയെ ഏത് സുധീ ഉപേക്ഷിക്കും?

Word by Word

• एकाम्: one (single)
• एकाम्: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• गाम्: cow
• गाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गो (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक)

• दत्त्वा: having given
• दत्त्वा: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (Absolutive/Gerund) — having given

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात) — emphasis/indeed

• विधिवत्: properly, as prescribed
• विधिवत्: Prakara (Manner/प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: विधि-वत् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) — “according to rule”

• ब्राह्मणाय: to a brāhmaṇa
• ब्राह्मणाय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/सम्प्रदान), एकवचन

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निपात)

• लभेत्: would obtain
• लभेत्: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लभ् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• अयुत: ten-thousandfold
• अयुत: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अयुत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा, एकवचन; संख्यावाचक — ‘ten thousand’ (as multiplier)

• गोपुण्यम्: merit of (donating) cows
• गोपुण्यम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गो-पुण्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• कः: who?
• कः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• ताम्: that (her)
• ताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• काशीम्: Kāśī
• काशीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• त्यजेत्: would abandon
• त्यजेत्: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• सुधीः: a wise man
• सुधीः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सु-धी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘सु’ + ‘धी’ = wise person

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration, commonly Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī—Go-dāna (vidhivat)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage audience

Visual Art Cues

Scene: On a Kāśī lane near a temple, a donor ceremonially gifts a decorated cow to a brāhmaṇa priest; the cow is garlanded, with a water-pot and kusa grass; behind, a symbolic vision of countless cows appears as a luminous multiplication of merit.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Go-dāna (cow gift)
• Brāhmaṇa
• Puṇya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Rightful charity in a supreme kṣetra multiplies merit; Kāśī magnifies dharmic giving into vast spiritual gain.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), celebrated as a place where dāna becomes extraordinarily efficacious.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Perform vidhivat go-dāna—gift one cow properly to a brāhmaṇa—said to grant merit equal to gifting ten thousand cows in Kāśī.