Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 65

Devanagari script

मुने चतुर्दशैतानि महालिंगानि यत्नतः । दृष्ट्वा न जायते जंतुः संसारे दुःखसागरे

Transliteration

mune caturdaśaitāni mahāliṃgāni yatnataḥ | dṛṣṭvā na jāyate jaṃtuḥ saṃsāre duḥkhasāgare

Translation

Wahai muni, sesiapa yang dengan tekun menatap dan menziarahi empat belas Mahāliṅga ini, tidak akan lahir semula ke dalam saṃsāra—lautan penderitaan.

Word by Word

• मुने: O sage
• मुने: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• चतुर्दश: fourteen
• चतुर्दश: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्दश (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्याविशेषण (द्विगु-समास), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; एतानि इति विशेष्यस्य विशेषणम्

• एतानि: these
• एतानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• महा-लिङ्गानि: great liṅgas
• महा-लिङ्गानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + लिङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; एतानि इति समानाधिकरणम्

• यत्नतः: with effort; carefully
• यत्नतः: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (तसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त), क्रियाविशेषण

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• दृष्ट्वा: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालिक क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया

• न: not
• न: Pratishedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (निपात)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय (particle of negation)

• जायते: is born; arises
• जायते: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• जन्तुः: a creature; being
• जन्तुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्तु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• संसारे: in worldly existence
• संसारे: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संसार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन

• दुःख-सागरे: in the ocean of suffering
• दुःख-सागरे: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःख (प्रातिपदिक) + सागर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (दुःखस्य सागरः); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; संसारे इति समानाधिकरणम्

Speaker

Skanda (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Caturdaśa Mahāliṅga-darśana (Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Devī (addressed as ‘priye’), with the sage as secondary hearer

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim-sage in Kāśī completes a reverent circuit of fourteen radiant liṅgas, each haloed; the city’s ghāṭas and temple spires frame the ‘ocean of saṃsāra’ as a dark, receding backdrop.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Fourteen Mahāliṅgas
• Saṃsāra
• Duḥkha-sāgara
• Mokṣa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred seeing (darśana) of Kāśī’s great Liṅgas is portrayed as a liberating encounter that cuts rebirth.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī’s fourteen Mahāliṅga shrines, visited as a deliberate pilgrimage.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Undertake careful darśana (and implied worship) of all fourteen Mahāliṅgas as a focused spiritual practice.