Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 30

Devanagari script

वस्त्रपूतजलैर्लिंगं स्नापयित्वा ममामराः । लक्षाश्वमेधजनितं पुण्यमाप्नोति सत्तमः

Transliteration

vastrapūtajalairliṃgaṃ snāpayitvā mamāmarāḥ | lakṣāśvamedhajanitaṃ puṇyamāpnoti sattamaḥ

Translation

എൻ അമരന്മാരേ! വസ്ത്രംകൊണ്ട് ചുരന്ന ജലത്തിൽ ലിംഗത്തെ സ്നാപനം ചെയ്താൽ സത്തമൻ ലക്ഷ അശ്വമേധജന്യ പുണ്യം പ്രാപിക്കുന്നു।

Word by Word

• vastra-pūta-jalaiḥ: with cloth-filtered water
• vastra-pūta-jalaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vastra (प्रातिपदिक) + pūta (पूत, √pū/पू, शुद्धौ; क्त-प्रत्यय) + jala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः: ‘with water purified by cloth’

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

• snāpayitvā: having bathed (it)
• snāpayitvā: Kriya (Gerundial action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √snā (स्ना, स्नाने) णिच् (causative) snāpay-; क्त्वान्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त; णिजन्त-धातु: ‘having caused to bathe / having bathed (it)’

• mama: my
• mama: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद्) सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक
• Form: षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• amarāḥ: O immortals (gods)
• amarāḥ: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: amara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; संबोधनार्थे/सम्बोधन-सदृश प्रयोगः (vocative sense in context)

• lakṣa-aśvamedha-janitam: generated by (the merit of) a hundred-thousand horse-sacrifices
• lakṣa-aśvamedha-janitam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: lakṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + aśvamedha (प्रातिपदिक) + janita (जनित, √jan/जन्, जनने; क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः; विशेषणम् (पुण्यम्): ‘produced by a lakh of aśvamedhas’

• puṇyam: merit
• puṇyam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puṇya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

• āpnoti: attains
• āpnoti: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √āp (आप्, प्राप्तौ)
• Form: लट्-लकार, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• sattamaḥ: the best of the good (noble man)
• sattamaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sat (सत्) + tama (तमप्, superlative)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; ‘सत्’ शब्दस्य उत्तम-तुल्यतम-प्रयोगः

Speaker

Śiva (first-person address to ‘amarāḥ’ and continuity of Liṅga-māhātmya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī Liṅga (Liṅgarāja)

Type: temple

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Amarāḥ (devas/immortals)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee filters water through a white cloth into a vessel and performs abhiṣeka on the liṅga; in the sky, symbolic horses and sacrificial fires dissolve into a single radiant merit-aura around the worshipper.

Characters & Entities

• Liṅga
• Abhiṣeka (snāpana)
• Aśvamedha
• Devas (amarāḥ)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Careful, reverent ritual purity joined with devotion is praised as yielding immense spiritual merit in the sacred field of Kāśī.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī, where bathing the revered Liṅga is extolled as extraordinarily fruitful.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Liṅga snāpana/abhiṣeka using vastra-pūta-jala—water strained through cloth as a purity-observing rite.