Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

भालनेत्रा नीलगलाः शुद्धांगा वृषभध्वजाः । असंख्याताः सहस्राणि ये रुद्रा अधिभूतलम्

Transliteration

bhālanetrā nīlagalāḥ śuddhāṃgā vṛṣabhadhvajāḥ | asaṃkhyātāḥ sahasrāṇi ye rudrā adhibhūtalam

Translation

သူတို့သည် နဖူးမျက်စိရှိ၍ လည်ချောင်းပြာ၊ ကိုယ်အင်္ဂါသန့်ရှင်းကာ နွားအလံကို ဆောင်ကြသည်။ မြေပြင်လောက၌ ရုဒြများ အရေအတွက်မရနိုင်သည့် ထောင်ပေါင်းများ ရှိသည်။

Word by Word

• भाल-नेत्राः: having an eye on the forehead
• भाल-नेत्राः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भाल (प्रातिपदिक) + नेत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीह्यर्थे तत्पुरुषप्रायः (भाले नेत्रं येषाम्) विशेषणम् (रुद्राः)

• नील-गलाः: blue-throated
• नील-गलाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नील (प्रातिपदिक) + गल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहिः (नीलः गलः येषाम्) विशेषणम् (रुद्राः)

• शुद्ध-अङ्गाः: pure-limbed
• शुद्ध-अङ्गाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुद्ध (प्रातिपदिक) + अङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहिः (शुद्धानि अङ्गानि येषाम्) विशेषणम् (रुद्राः)

• वृषभ-ध्वजाः: having the bull as banner
• वृषभ-ध्वजाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वृषभ (प्रातिपदिक) + ध्वज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहिः (वृषभः ध्वजः येषाम्) विशेषणम् (रुद्राः)

• अ-संख्याताः: countless
• अ-संख्याताः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ (नञ्) + संख्यात (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √ख्या)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; नञ्-समास/नकारार्थक-विशेषणम्

• सहस्राणि: thousands
• सहस्राणि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• ये: who
• ये: Karta (Relative subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धक-सर्वनाम

• रुद्राः: Rudras
• रुद्राः: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• अधि-भूतलम्: upon the earth
• अधि-भूतलम्: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अधि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + भूतल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभावसमासः; अव्ययवत् (adverbial), ‘भूतलम्’ उपरि/अधि

Speaker

Gaṇas (continuing)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī as Rudra-bhūmi (Rudra-sannidhāna)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A vast assembly of Rudras fills the sacred landscape—each with a blazing forehead-eye, blue throat, immaculate body, and bull-banner insignia—extending beyond count across the earth-plane.

Characters & Entities

• Rudras
• Third eye (bhālanetra)
• Nīlakaṇṭha motif
• Vṛṣabha-dhvaja

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The sacred realm is saturated with Śiva’s living presence—manifest as innumerable Rudra forms—inviting reverence and inner purification.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader sacred region being described in Adhyāya 14 (Kāśī’s Īśāna-related domain), portrayed as filled with Rudra manifestations.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse is primarily a glorifying description of Rudra-forms.