Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 76

Devanagari script

संस्नास्यति नरो धीमान्कामकुंडे त्वदास्पदे । त्वत्स्थापितं च कामेशं लिंगं द्रक्ष्यति मानवः

Transliteration

saṃsnāsyati naro dhīmānkāmakuṃḍe tvadāspade | tvatsthāpitaṃ ca kāmeśaṃ liṃgaṃ drakṣyati mānavaḥ

Translation

ഏത് ബുദ്ധിമാൻ മനുഷ്യൻ നിന്റെ പുണ്യാശ്രയമായ ‘കാമകുണ്ഡ’ത്തിൽ സ്നാനം ചെയ്ത്, നീ സ്ഥാപിച്ച ‘കാമേശ’ ലിംഗം ദർശിക്കുന്നുവോ…

Word by Word

• saṃsnāsyati: will bathe
• saṃsnāsyati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: snā (स्ना धातु)
• Form: लृट् (Simple Future/भविष्यत्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद; उपसर्गः सम्

• naraḥ: a man
• naraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• dhīmān: wise
• dhīmān: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dhīmat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• kāmakuṃḍe: in the Kāma-kuṇḍa (pond)
• kāmakuṃḍe: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāma-kuṃḍa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• tvat: your
• tvat: Sambandha (Possessor/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-समासपूर्वपद (genitival stem) — ‘your’

• āspade: in the abode/seat
• āspade: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āspada (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• tvat: by you/your
• tvat: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-समासपूर्वपद (genitival stem) — ‘by you/your’ (in compound)

• sthāpitam: installed
• sthāpitam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sthāpita (कृदन्त; √sthā/स्थाप् caus. + क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक (conjunction)

• kāmeśam: Kāmeśa
• kāmeśam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāma-īśa (प्रातिपदिक; kāma + īśa)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• liṅgam: liṅga
• liṅgam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: liṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• drakṣyati: will see
• drakṣyati: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (दृश् धातु)
• Form: लृट् (Simple Future/भविष्यत्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• mānavaḥ: a human
• mānavaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mānava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

Speaker

Śiva (Devadeva)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāmakūṇḍa; Kāmeśa/Kāmeśvara-liṅga

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Audience of the Kāśī-māhātmya discourse

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A wise pilgrim bathes in a stepped pond (kuṇḍa) at dawn or dusk, then walks dripping and reverent to a nearby liṅga shrine for darśana; priests prepare offerings; the atmosphere is intimate and purifying.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Kāmakūṇḍa
• Kāmeśvara/Kāmeśa Liṅga
• Durvāsā (implied as installer)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pilgrimage acts—bathing in a tirtha and darśana of a consecrated liṅga—are upheld as direct, embodied paths of purification.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāmakūṇḍa and the Kāmeśvara liṅga associated with Durvāsā in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Snāna (bathing) in Kāmakūṇḍa and darśana (beholding) of the Kāmeśvara liṅga.