Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 75

Devanagari script

चक्रवर्तिस्त्रियाः पाणौ नंद्यावर्तः प्रदक्षिणः । शंखातपत्रक मठा नृपमातृत्वसूचकाः

Transliteration

cakravartistriyāḥ pāṇau naṃdyāvartaḥ pradakṣiṇaḥ | śaṃkhātapatraka maṭhā nṛpamātṛtvasūcakāḥ

Translation

चक्रवर्तीच्या पत्नीच्या तळहातात उजवीकडे वळणारा नंद्यावर्त दिसतो; तसेच शंख, राजछत्र किंवा मठ/मंडपासारखी चिन्हे राजमातृत्वाची सूचक मानली जातात।

Word by Word

• cakravarti-striyāḥ: of the emperor’s wife
• cakravarti-striyāḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cakravartin (प्रातिपदिक) + strī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (चक्रवर्तिनः स्त्री)

• pāṇau: in the hand/palm
• pāṇau: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāṇi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; अधिकरण (locative)

• naṃdyāvartaḥ: the nandyāvarta (auspicious spiral mark)
• naṃdyāvartaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nandyāvarta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• pradakṣiṇaḥ: right-turning/clockwise
• pradakṣiṇaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pradakṣiṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (of nandyāvartaḥ)

• śaṃkha-ātapatraka: conch-and-parasol (combined mark)
• śaṃkha-ātapatraka: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaṃkha (प्रातिपदिक) + ātapatra (प्रातिपदिक) + -ka (क-प्रत्यय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (समाहार-द्वन्द्वः); ‘शङ्ख’ तथा ‘आतपत्र’ (छत्र) इत्ययोः समाहारः

• maṭhāḥ: (and) maṭha-marks/figures (monastery-like forms)
• maṭhāḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: maṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• nṛpa-mātṛtva-sūcakāḥ: indicators of being a king’s mother
• nṛpa-mātṛtva-sūcakāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Predicate adjective of preceding marks)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nṛpa (प्रातिपदिक) + mātṛtva (प्रातिपदिक; -tva) + sūcaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; षष्ठी/तत्पुरुषः (नृपस्य मातृत्वम्) + तत्पुरुषः (तस्य सूचकाः)

Speaker

Skanda

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A queen’s palm shown with a right-turning nandyāvarta; nearby symbolic objects—conch, royal parasol, and a pavilion—float as auspicious icons; a coronation vignette hints at the future king-son.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Skanda
• Agastya

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Royal prosperity and progeny are portrayed as dharmic fruits, readable through auspicious symbols.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the overarching sacred geography of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, but this verse is not a tīrtha-stuti.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a classification of auspicious marks.