Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 57

Devanagari script

जनन्या सह नो काशी लभेदुपमितिं क्वचित् । धारयेज्जननी गर्भे काशी गर्भाद्विमोचयेत्

Transliteration

jananyā saha no kāśī labhedupamitiṃ kvacit | dhārayejjananī garbhe kāśī garbhādvimocayet

Translation

ନିଜ ଜନନୀ ସହିତ ମଧ୍ୟ କାଶୀର ଉପମା କେଉଁଠି ମିଳେନାହିଁ। ଜନନୀ ଗର୍ଭରେ ଧାରଣ କରେ; କିନ୍ତୁ କାଶୀ ଜୀବକୁ ଗର୍ଭ—ପୁନର୍ଜନ୍ମ—ରୁ ବିମୋଚିତ କରେ।

Word by Word

• jananyā: with (one's) mother
• jananyā: Saha (Accompaniment/सह)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jananī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन

• saha: together with
• saha: Saha (Accompaniment/सह)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: saha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; सह-शब्दः (postposition/particle meaning 'with')

• naḥ: of us/our
• naḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन (enclitic)

• kāśī: Kashi
• kāśī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• labhet: could obtain
• labhet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √labh (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपदम्

• upamitim: comparison, equivalence
• upamitim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: upamiti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• kvacit: anywhere, ever
• kvacit: Adhikarana (Place/Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kvacit (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देश/कालवाचक-अव्यय (indefinite adverb)

• dhārayet: would hold/carry
• dhārayet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √dhṛ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• jananī: a mother
• jananī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jananī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• garbhe: in the womb
• garbhe: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: garbha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• kāśī: Kashi
• kāśī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• garbhāt: from the womb
• garbhāt: Apadana (Ablative source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: garbha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन

• vimocayet: would release, would free
• vimocayet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi√muc (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्; causative sense not marked here (simple optative)

Speaker

Skanda (māhātmya exposition)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Agastya

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Two-part contrast: a human mother holding a child (warm, earthly), and Kāśī as radiant city-mother opening a gate of light; a symbolic ‘womb’ (dark enclosure/lotus-bud) dissolves as the soul steps into freedom.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• Mother (jananī)
• Womb/rebirth (garbha)
• Liberation (vimokṣa implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Earthly motherhood gives bodily birth, but Kāśī grants the higher deliverance—release from repeated birth.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), extolled as incomparable because it leads beings beyond rebirth.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the teaching supports the ideal of seeking moksha through Kāśī’s sacred presence.