Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 68

Devanagari script

वैधव्यं स्थूलरोमाणौ ह्रस्वौ दौर्भाग्यसूचकौ । परिक्लेशाय नारीणां परिदृश्यशिरौ भुजौ

Transliteration

vaidhavyaṃ sthūlaromāṇau hrasvau daurbhāgyasūcakau | parikleśāya nārīṇāṃ paridṛśyaśirau bhujau

Translation

ज्या भुजा ठेंगण्या असून स्थूल-रूक्ष रोमांनी युक्त असतात, त्या वैधव्य व दुर्भाग्यसूचक मानल्या आहेत. ज्यांच्या सांध्यांचे/टोकांचे उभार स्पष्ट दिसतात, त्या स्त्रियांस क्लेशकारक ठरतात.

Word by Word

• वैधव्यम्: widowhood
• वैधव्यम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैधव्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन

• स्थूल-रोमाणौ: having thick hair (on the arms)
• स्थूल-रोमाणौ: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्थूल (प्रातिपदिक) + रोमन्/रोम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; विशेषण (qualifying)

• ह्रस्वौ: short
• ह्रस्वौ: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ह्रस्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; विशेषण

• दौर्भाग्य-सूचकौ: indicating misfortune
• दौर्भाग्य-सूचकौ: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दौर्भाग्य (प्रातिपदिक) + सूचक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; विशेषण

• परिक्लेशाय: for affliction
• परिक्लेशाय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: परिक्लेश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी-विभक्ति (Dative), एकवचन

• नारीणाम्: of women
• नारीणाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नारी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), बहुवचन

• परिदृश्य-शिरौ: with conspicuous heads (joints)
• परिदृश्य-शिरौ: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परिदृश्य (कृदन्त; परि+दृश् धातु, ल्यप्/तव्यत्-भाव) + शिरस्/शिर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; विशेषण

• भुजौ: the two arms
• भुजौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भुज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Avimukta-kṣetra (Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer audience (generic)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A didactic setting in Kāśī: a learned narrator describes inauspicious arm-features (short, coarse-haired arms; prominent joints) as hardship-signs for women, with the city’s ghāṭas and temples faintly present as a moral backdrop.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It warns against inauspicious extremes and frames suffering as karmically signaled, encouraging careful, dharmic decision-making.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the overarching sacred setting, but this verse does not praise a specific tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.