Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 28

Devanagari script

किं वंश्यस्त्वेष किं गोत्रः किं देशीयः किमात्मकः । किं वृत्तिः किं समाचारो विपा दी वृषवाहनः

Transliteration

kiṃ vaṃśyastveṣa kiṃ gotraḥ kiṃ deśīyaḥ kimātmakaḥ | kiṃ vṛttiḥ kiṃ samācāro vipā dī vṛṣavāhanaḥ

Translation

Dari keturunan apakah dia? Apakah gotranya? Dari negeri manakah dia datang—apakah hakikat dirinya? Apakah pekerjaannya, apakah adatnya—dia yang bertanda panji lembu itu, yang sentiasa dikelilingi malapetaka yang ganjil?

Word by Word

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक सर्वनाम (interrogative pronoun)

• वंश्यः: of what lineage
• वंश्यः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vaṃśya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; विशेषण (adjectival)

• तु: indeed/but
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/विरोधार्थक निपात (particle: but/indeed)

• एषः: this (man)
• एषः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: eṣa (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; संकेतवाचक सर्वनाम (demonstrative pronoun)

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• गोत्रः: clan/gotra
• गोत्रः: Prashna (Predicate nominal/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gotra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• देशीयः: from which country/region
• देशीयः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: deśīya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; विशेषण

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• आत्मकः: of what nature
• आत्मकः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ātmaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; विशेषण (having the nature of)

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• वृत्तिः: occupation/conduct
• वृत्तिः: Prashna (Predicate nominal/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛtti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• किम्: what?
• किम्: Prashna (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक/सर्वनाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक

• समाचारः: custom/behavior
• समाचारः: Prashna (Predicate nominal/प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: samācāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• विपादि: having deformed/odd feet (epithet)
• विपादि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vipādin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; विशेषण; (पाठभेद: ‘विपादि’ = ‘विपादिन्’/‘विपाद’ इति)

• वृषवाहनः: he whose vehicle is a bull
• वृषवाहनः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛṣa + vāhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (vṛṣasya vāhanam iti)

Speaker

Dakṣa (as reported in Skanda’s narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A courtly or learned assembly in Kāśī debates the identity of the bull-bannered ascetic-god; figures gesture in questioning while, in the background, a hint of cremation-ground and a distant liṅga-shrine suggests the Lord’s true locus beyond society.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva (vṛṣavāhana)
• Dakṣa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Reducing the divine to social labels (lineage, region, custom) is ignorance; true dharma recognizes transcendent reality beyond egoic categories.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named; the teaching is embedded within the Kāśī-centered Purāṇic discourse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is polemical speech revealing Dakṣa’s adharma of contempt.