Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 97

Devanagari script

स्कंद उवाच । इत्यन्योन्यस्य शापेन मुने धर्मो नदोऽभवत् । अविमुक्ते महाक्षेत्रे ख्यातो धर्मनदो महान्

Transliteration

skaṃda uvāca | ityanyonyasya śāpena mune dharmo nado'bhavat | avimukte mahākṣetre khyāto dharmanado mahān

Translation

စကန္ဒက မိန့်တော်မူသည်— “အို မုနိ၊ အပြန်အလှန်ကျိန်စာကြောင့် ဓမ္မသည် မြစ်ဖြစ်လာ၏။ အဝိမုတ္တ မဟာကေတ္တ၌ ‘မဟာဓမ္မနဒါ’ ဟူ၍ ထင်ရှားလျက်ရှိ၏”။

Word by Word

• स्कन्दः: Skanda
• स्कन्दः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्कन्द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत/Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Discourse marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (निगमन)

• अन्योन्यस्य: of each other
• अन्योन्यस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्य (प्रातिपदिक) + अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध), एकवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व ‘अन्योन्य’ = of each other

• शापेन: by the curse
• शापेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (करण), एकवचन

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

• धर्मः: Dharma
• धर्मः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता), एकवचन

• नदः: a river
• नदः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• अभवत्: became
• अभवत्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत/Imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• अविमुक्ते: in Avimukta
• अविमुक्ते: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अविमुक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन; स्थानवाचक (Avimukta)

• महाक्षेत्रे: in the great sacred field
• महाक्षेत्रे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + क्षेत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन; कर्मधारय (महच्च तत् क्षेत्रम्)

• ख्यातः: renowned/known
• ख्यातः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ख्या (धातु) → ख्यात (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त/PPP), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (धर्मनदः)

• धर्मनदः: the Dharma-river
• धर्मनदः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + नद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (धर्मस्य नदः)

• महान्: great
• महान्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (धर्मनदः)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Dharmanadā

Type: river

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: O sage (muni)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Skanda as narrator (youthful divine commander) gestures toward a sacred stream within Kāśī; the river is personified as Dharma—serene, luminous—flowing past ghāṭas and liṅga shrines, with pilgrims offering water.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Avimukta
• Kāśī
• Dharma
• Dharmanadā (Dharma-nada)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even conflict and curse can be transmuted into sacred purpose within Kāśī—dharma becomes a living tīrtha that guides pilgrims toward purification.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Avimukta Mahākṣetra in Kāśī, specifically the Dharmanadā (Dharma-nada) river/tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Not stated here; the verse identifies the tīrtha’s origin and fame, preparing for later merit (puṇya) descriptions.