Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 3

Devanagari script

परिभ्रम्य महातेजा महामर्षो महातपाः । दुर्वासाः संपरिप्राप्तः शंभोरानंदकाननम्

Transliteration

paribhramya mahātejā mahāmarṣo mahātapāḥ | durvāsāḥ saṃpariprāptaḥ śaṃbhorānaṃdakānanam

Translation

ഇങ്ങനെ പര്യടനം ചെയ്ത് മഹാതേജസ്വിയായ മഹർഷി, മഹാതപസ്വിയായ ദുർവാസാവ് ശംഭുവിന്റെ ആനന്ദകാനനം—കാശി—യിൽ എത്തിച്ചേർന്നു।

Word by Word

• परिभ्रम्य: having wandered about
• परिभ्रम्य: Kriya (Prior action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भ्रम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), परि-उपसर्ग; अव्ययभाव (having wandered/roamed)

• महातेजाः: the great-lustrous one
• महातेजाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक) + तेजस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (masculine, nominative, singular); कर्मधारय (महान् तेजः यस्य)

• महामर्षः: of great ardor
• महामर्षः: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक) + मर्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारय (महान् मर्षः)

• महातपाः: of great austerity
• महातपाः: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक) + तपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारय (महत्तपाः)

• दुर्वासाः: Durvāsā
• दुर्वासाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्वासस्/दुर्वासा (प्रातिपदिक; ऋषिनाम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (proper noun)

• सम्-परि-प्राप्तः: arrived, reached
• सम्-परि-प्राप्तः: Kriya (Main predicate/मुख्यक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्राप् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle), सम्+परि-उपसर्ग; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (having arrived)

• शंभोः: of Śambhu (Śiva)
• शंभोः: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शंभु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (genitive), एकवचन

• आनन्द-काननम्: the Ānanda-grove
• आनन्द-काननम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आनन्द (प्रातिपदिक) + कानन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी/कर्मधारय-भावे तत्पुरुष (आनन्दस्य काननम् / आनन्दमयं काननम्)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Ānandakānana (Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Durvāsā—radiant, austere, and intense—arrives at the threshold of Śiva’s blissful forest of Kāśī, suggesting a transition from worldly wandering to divine precinct.

Characters & Entities

• Durvāsā
• Śambhu (Śiva)
• Ānandakānana
• Kāśī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even the greatest ascetics ultimately seek Śiva’s own sacred realm—Kāśī—portrayed as bliss-bestowing Ānandakānana.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Ānandakānana, Śiva’s famed forest-grove of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī’s sacred sphere).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; the verse highlights arrival/approach (prāpti) to the divine kṣetra as spiritually significant.