Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 55

Devanagari script

दुःखार्णव निमग्नानां यातायातेति खेदिनाम् । कर्मपाशितकंठानां काश्येका मुक्तिसाधनम्

Transliteration

duḥkhārṇava nimagnānāṃ yātāyāteti khedinām | karmapāśitakaṃṭhānāṃ kāśyekā muktisādhanam

Translation

ദുഃഖസമുദ്രത്തിൽ മുങ്ങിയവർക്കും, വരവ്-പോക്ക് ചക്രത്തിൽ ക്ഷീണിച്ചവർക്കും, കർമപാശം കണ്ഠം മുറുക്കിയവർക്കും—കാശി മാത്രമേ മോക്ഷസാധനമായുള്ളൂ.

Word by Word

• duḥkha-arṇava-nimagnānām: of those sunk in the ocean of sorrow
• duḥkha-arṇava-nimagnānām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक) + arṇava (प्रातिपदिक) + nimagna (नि√मज्ज् धातु, क्त)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समासः; कृदन्त (क्त); पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (khedinām / implied beings)

• yātāyāta: going and coming (transmigration)
• yātāyāta: Sambandha (Quoted content/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yāta (√yā धातु, क्त) + āyāta (आ√yā धातु, क्त)
• Form: द्वन्द्व-समासः (यात + आयात); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; here as quoted notion

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

• khedinām: of the distressed
• khedinām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: khedin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; भाववाचक/कर्तृवाचक (those who are distressed)

• karma-pāśita-kaṇṭhānām: of those whose throats are bound by the noose of karma
• karma-pāśita-kaṇṭhānām: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: karma (प्रातिपदिक) + pāśita (√pāś धातु, क्त) + kaṇṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समासः; कृदन्त (क्त); पुल्लिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (khedinām / implied beings)

• kāśī: Kashi
• kāśī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• ekā: alone, the only one
• ekā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (kāśī)

• mukti-sādhanam: means of liberation
• mukti-sādhanam: Karya (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mukti (प्रातिपदिक) + sādhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समासः; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विधेय (predicate nominative)

Speaker

Skanda (māhātmya exposition)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Agastya

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic tableau: beings struggling in a dark ocean labeled ‘duḥkha’, a wheel of yātāyāta turning; above, Kāśī shines like a luminous island with a liṅga, offering a path upward; a loosened ‘karma-noose’ around the neck dissolves.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• Karma
• Saṃsāra (yātāyāta)
• Mukti

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is exalted as a singular liberating refuge for beings trapped in karma and saṃsāra.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), explicitly praised as “ekā mukti-sādhanam” (the sole means to liberation).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific rite is named; the implied prescription is pilgrimage/residence in Kāśī with Śaiva orientation toward liberation.