Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 65

Devanagari script

आपः पतिव्रता स्पर्शमभिलष्यंति सर्वदा । अद्य जाड्यविनाशो नो जातास्त्वद्याऽन्यपावनाः

Transliteration

āpaḥ pativratā sparśamabhilaṣyaṃti sarvadā | adya jāḍyavināśo no jātāstvadyā'nyapāvanāḥ

Translation

ଜଳ ସଦା ପତିବ୍ରତାଙ୍କ ସ୍ପର୍ଶକୁ ଆକାଂକ୍ଷା କରେ। ଆଜି ଆମ ଜଡତା ନଶିଗଲା; ଆଜି ଆମେ ପବିତ୍ର ହେଲୁ—ଅନ୍ୟ ପାବନକାରୀମାନଙ୍କଠାରୁ ମଧ୍ୟ ଅଧିକ ପବିତ୍ର।

Word by Word

• āpaḥ: waters
• āpaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ap (अप् प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता), बहुवचनम् (plural tantum ‘waters’)

• pativratāḥ: devoted-to-husband (chaste)
• pativratāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pativratā (पतिव्रता प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्; विशेषणम् (qualifying आपः)

• sparśam: touch
• sparśam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sparśa (स्पर्श प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (कर्म), एकवचनम्

• abhilaṣyanti: desire / long for
• abhilaṣyanti: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: abhilaṣ (अभिलष् धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकारः (present), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, बहुवचनम्

• sarvadā: always
• sarvadā: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sarvadā (सर्वदा अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक अव्यय (adverb of time)

• adya: today / now
• adya: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अद्य अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक अव्यय (today/now)

• jāḍya-vināśaḥ: destruction of dullness
• jāḍya-vināśaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jāḍya (जाड्य प्रातिपदिक) + vināśa (विनाश प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (कर्ता/भाव), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (जाड्यस्य विनाशः)

• naḥ: of us / our
• naḥ: Shashthi-sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध), बहुवचनम्; सर्वनाम (our/of us)

• jātāḥ: have become / arisen
• jātāḥ: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jan (जन् धातु)
• Form: भूतकाले क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle, क्त), प्रथमा-बहुवचनं, पुंलिङ्गे (agreeing with anyapāvanāḥ)

• tu: indeed / but
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (तु अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, विरोध/विशेषार्थक (but/indeed)

• adya: today
• adya: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अद्य अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक अव्यय

• anya-pāvanāḥ: other purifiers / newly purifying ones
• anya-pāvanāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (अन्य प्रातिपदिक) + pāvana (पावन प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्; कर्मधारयः (अन्ये च ते पावनाः)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gaṅgā in Kāśī (Kāśī-Gaṅgā)

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Personified waters (Āpaḥ) rise as luminous female forms from the river, expressing joy that their dullness is destroyed after contact with a pativratā; ghats and lamps suggest Kāśī.

Characters & Entities

• Āpaḥ (sacred waters)
• Pativratā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

True purity is not merely physical; contact with lived dharma (pativratā virtue) is described as supremely sanctifying.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī’s sacred environment and its purifying ethos are implied through the Kāśīkhaṇḍa setting.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is stated; the verse frames purification (pāvanatva) as arising from contact with virtue.