Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 94

Devanagari script

विघ्नराजादवाच्यां तु दंतहस्तो गणेश्वरः । लिखेद्विघ्नसहस्राणि नृणां वाराणसीद्रुहाम्

Transliteration

vighnarājādavācyāṃ tu daṃtahasto gaṇeśvaraḥ | likhedvighnasahasrāṇi nṛṇāṃ vārāṇasīdruhām

Translation

Dan di arah selatan, dari Vighnarāja, ada Gaṇeśvara bernama Dantahasta. Baginda menuliskan (menetapkan) ribuan halangan bagi mereka yang memusuhi Vārāṇasī.

Word by Word

• विघ्नराजात्: from Vighnarāja
• विघ्नराजात्: Apadana (Ablative/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विघ्नराज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (विघ्नानां राजा)

• अवाच्याम्: in the (direction) called Avācya (south)
• अवाच्याम्: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अवाच्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• तु: but, indeed
• तु: Sambandha/Discourse particle
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधान/विरोधार्थक निपात (particle)

• दन्तहस्तः: one whose hand is (like) a tusk / tusk-handed
• दन्तहस्तः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दन्त + हस्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (दन्तः एव हस्तः)

• गणेश्वरः: Lord of the gaṇas
• गणेश्वरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गण + ईश्वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (गणानाम् ईश्वरः)

• लिखेत्: may (he) write/inscribe
• लिखेत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लिख् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative/संभावना), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• विघ्नसहस्राणि: thousands of obstacles
• विघ्नसहस्राणि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विघ्न + सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः (विघ्नानां सहस्राणि)

• नृणाम्: of men
• नृणाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• वाराणसीद्रुहाम्: of those who harm Vārāṇasī
• वाराणसीद्रुहाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाराणसी + द्रुह् (धातु) + अम् (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन; उपपद-तत्पुरुषः (वाराणसीं द्रुह्यन्ति इति); द्रुह्-धातोः शतृ/कृदन्त-आधारित प्रातिपदिक

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dantahasta Gaṇeśvara (Vighnarāja-sambandha, South of Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣi audience / internal Kāśī interlocutors

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Dantahasta Gaṇeśvara stands in the southern quarter with a stylus/ledger motif—symbolically ‘writing’ obstacles for those who harm Kāśī; the city’s sacred skyline is behind him, while shadowy figures representing kṣetra-droha recoil from the protective boundary.

Characters & Entities

• Vighnarāja
• Dantahasta Gaṇeśvara
• Vārāṇasī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred places are protected by divine order; hostility toward Kāśī is framed as adharma that brings self-created impediments.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) as a city guarded by Vināyaka forms that restrain offenders.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual; the verse states a protective, punitive function of Dantahasta toward enemies of Kāśī.