Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 63

Devanagari script

पुनर्विचारयांचक्रे वापी माहात्म्यमुत्तमम् । अहो चित्रगतापीयं संस्पृष्टा ज्ञानवापिका

Transliteration

punarvicārayāṃcakre vāpī māhātmyamuttamam | aho citragatāpīyaṃ saṃspṛṣṭā jñānavāpikā

Translation

သူမသည် ထိုရေတွင်း၏ အမြင့်မြတ်ဆုံး မဟာတန်ခိုးကို ထပ်မံစဉ်းစား၍ “အဟို! ပန်းချီထဲတွင်သာ ရှိနေသော်လည်း ‘ဉာဏဝါပီ’ ကို ထိမိလျှင် အာနုဘော်ကို မပျက်မကွက် ပေးစွမ်းသေးသည်” ဟုဆို하였다။

Word by Word

• पुनः: again
• पुनः: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः (अव्यय)
• Form: पुनरावृत्ति-वाचक अव्यय (adverb)

• विचारयाम्-चक्रे: reflected/considered
• विचारयाम्-चक्रे: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: विचारय (धातु; √चर्/चारय् ‘to consider’)
• Form: लिट् (परिप्रास/परफेक्ट), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद; परिप्रासः (विचारयामास/विचारयांचक्रे)

• वापी: the well/pond
• वापी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वापी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्तृ/विषय-रूपेण (topic)

• माहात्म्यम्: greatness, sacred power
• माहात्म्यम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: माहात्म्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; कर्म (what was considered)

• उत्तमम्: excellent, supreme
• उत्तमम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; विशेषण—‘माहात्म्यम्’

• अहो: ah! indeed!
• अहो: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अहो (अव्यय)
• Form: विस्मय-वाचक अव्यय (interjection)

• चित्र-गता: placed in a painting
• चित्र-गता: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चित्र (प्रातिपदिक) + गत (कृदन्त; √गम् (धातु))
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण—‘इयम् (ज्ञानवापिका)’

• अपि: even/also
• अपि: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपेक्षार्थक अव्यय (also/even)

• इयम्: this (she/it)
• इयम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्ता/निर्देश

• संस्पृष्टा: touched
• संस्पृष्टा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संस्पृष्ट (कृदन्त; सम्+√स्पृश् (धातु))
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण—‘ज्ञानवापिका’

• ज्ञान-वापिका: the knowledge-well
• ज्ञान-वापिका: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ज्ञान (प्रातिपदिक) + वापिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्ता/विषय

Speaker

Skanda (narration); reflective exclamation attributed to Kalāvatī

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Jñānavāpī

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and sages (typical frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Kalāvatī, astonished, contemplates the painted Jñānavāpī and speaks in praise, as if the image itself radiates the tīrtha’s potency.

Characters & Entities

• Kalāvatī
• Jñānavāpī
• Kāśī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

True tīrtha-mahātmya is not limited by material distance; sacred power works through faith and meaningful connection.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Jñānavāpī in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No formal rite; the verse emphasizes contemplation (vicāra) and reverent touch as spiritually effective.