Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 93

Devanagari script

अन्नक्षयो वा सर्वस्यां नगर्यामभवत्क्षणात् । राजदंडोथ युगपज्जातः सर्वपुरौकसाम्

Transliteration

annakṣayo vā sarvasyāṃ nagaryāmabhavatkṣaṇāt | rājadaṃḍotha yugapajjātaḥ sarvapuraukasām

Translation

“അല്ലെങ്കിൽ മുഴുവൻ നഗരത്തിലും ക്ഷണത്തിൽ അന്നക്ഷയം സംഭവിച്ചിരിക്കാം; അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ഒരേ സമയം എല്ലാ നഗരവാസികളിലും രാജദണ്ഡം പതിച്ചിരിക്കാം.”

Word by Word

• anna-kṣayaḥ: depletion of food
• anna-kṣayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anna (प्रातिपदिक) + kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (annasya kṣayaḥ); पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Alternative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक-अव्यय (or)

• sarvasyām: in the entire
• sarvasyām: Adhikarana (Location qualifier/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन; विशेषण (in the whole)

• nagaryām: in the city
• nagaryām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nagarī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन

• abhavat: occurred, happened
• abhavat: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत/Imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• kṣaṇāt: in a moment
• kṣaṇāt: Apadana (Source/time-from/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (अपादान), एकवचन; कालवाचक (within/from a moment)

• rāja-daṇḍaḥ: king’s punishment
• rāja-daṇḍaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāja (प्रातिपदिक) + daṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (rājñaḥ daṇḍaḥ); पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• atha: then
• atha: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अनन्तरार्थक-अव्यय (then/and then)

• yugapat: simultaneously
• yugapat: Kāla-adhikarana (Time adverb/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yugapat (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (simultaneously)

• jātaḥ: arose
• jātaḥ: Kriya (Predicative occurrence/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jan (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle used predicatively); पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (having arisen)

• sarva-puraukasām: of all the city-dwellers
• sarva-puraukasām: Sambandha (Genitive: of/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + pura-okas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष-समास (sarve puraukasāḥ); षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन; 'पुरौकस्' = नगरनिवासी

Speaker

Vyāsa (speculating on causes)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (frame assumed; not explicit in excerpt)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Vyāsa enumerates possible causes: sudden citywide food scarcity or simultaneous royal crackdown; the backdrop shows anxious townspeople, shuttered homes, and a tense marketplace near the ghāṭa.

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• Kāśī (nagari)
• rājadaṇḍa (royal authority)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Material conditions and governance affect dharmic practices like giving; dharma is lived within society.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the city referenced; its civic life is part of the Kāśī-māhātmya portrayal.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse lists possible worldly causes for the absence of bhikṣā.