Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 82

Devanagari script

किं विस्मृतं त्वहहगर्भजमामनस्यं कार्तांतदूतकृतबंधन ताडनं च । शंभोरनुग्रह परिग्रह लभ्य काशीं मूढो विहाय किमु याति करस्थ मुक्तिम्

Transliteration

kiṃ vismṛtaṃ tvahahagarbhajamāmanasyaṃ kārtāṃtadūtakṛtabaṃdhana tāḍanaṃ ca | śaṃbhoranugraha parigraha labhya kāśīṃ mūḍho vihāya kimu yāti karastha muktim

Translation

ਕੀ ਤੂੰ ਭੁੱਲ ਗਿਆ—ਹਾਏ—ਗਰਭ ਤੋਂ ਹੀ ਸ਼ੁਰੂ ਹੋਣ ਵਾਲਾ ਦੁੱਖ, ਅਤੇ ਯਮਦੂਤਾਂ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਕੀਤਾ ਬੰਧਨ ਤੇ ਤਾਡਨਾ? ਕਾਸ਼ੀ ਤਾਂ ਸ਼ੰਭੂ (ਸ਼ਿਵ) ਦੀ ਕਿਰਪਾ-ਸਵੀਕਾਰਤਾ ਨਾਲ ਹੀ ਮਿਲਦੀ ਹੈ। ਜੋ ਮੂੜ੍ਹ ਕਾਸ਼ੀ ਨੂੰ ਛੱਡ ਦੇਵੇ, ਉਹ ਹੱਥ ਵਿਚ ਪਈ ਮੁਕਤੀ ਨੂੰ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਪਾ ਸਕੇਗਾ?

Word by Word

• kim: what?/why?
• kim: Karma/Predicate (प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; प्रश्नार्थक

• vismṛtam: forgotten
• vismṛtam: Karma-sāmānādhikaraṇa (कर्मसमानााधिकरण/Predicate)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi-√smṛ (धातु) + kta (क्त) → vismṛta (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; 'विस्मृतम्' = forgotten

• tu: but/indeed
• tu: Discourse particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (contrastive particle)

• ahaha: alas!
• ahaha: Exclamation (उद्गार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ahaha (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्गार (interjection), अव्यय

• garbha-jam: born from the womb
• garbha-jam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: garbha (प्रातिपदिक) + ja (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: 'गर्भात् जातम्'

• āmanasyam: mental affliction
• āmanasyam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: āmanasya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; 'आमानस्य' = mental affliction/unease (दुर्लभ-शब्द)

• kārtānta-dūta-kṛta-bandhanam: bondage made by Yama's messengers
• kārtānta-dūta-kṛta-bandhanam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kārtānta (प्रातिपदिक) + dūta (प्रातिपदिक) + kṛta (कृदन्त) + bandhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: 'कार्तान्तदूतैः कृतं बन्धनम्'

• tāḍanam: beating/torture
• tāḍanam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: √tāḍ (धातु) + lyuṭ (ल्युट्) → tāḍana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कृदन्त-नाम (action noun), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Connector (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय

• śaṃbhoḥ: of Śambhu (Śiva)
• śaṃbhoḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaṃbhu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• anugraha-parigraham: grace and acceptance
• anugraha-parigraham: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anugraha (प्रातिपदिक) + parigraha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; द्वन्द्व (इतरेतर): 'अनुग्रहश्च परिग्रहश्च'

• labhya: having obtained
• labhya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √labh (धातु)
• Form: तव्यत्/यत्-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (gerundive), अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः; 'लभ्य' = having obtained/obtainable (context: having obtained)

• kāśīm: Kāśī
• kāśīm: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• mūḍhaḥ: deluded
• mūḍhaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mūḍha (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• vihāya: abandoning
• vihāya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-√hā (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive), 'विहाय' = having abandoned

• kimu: why then?
• kimu: Discourse particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम) + u (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक निपातसमूह (interrogative particle)

• yāti: goes
• yāti: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √yā (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• kara-sthām: in hand/at hand
• kara-sthām: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kara (प्रातिपदिक) + sthā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: 'करे स्थिता' = in hand/at hand

• muktim: liberation
• muktim: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mukti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue convention: Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis (frame typical; not explicit)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A stark moral diptych: left—womb imagery and Yama’s messengers binding and striking a terrified soul; right—Śambhu’s compassionate gaze over Kāśī’s ghāṭas, placing ‘mukti’ like a jewel into the devotee’s open palm; a foolish figure turns away, symbolizing squandered grace.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• Śambhu (Śiva)
• Yama (Kṛtānta)
• Yamadūtas (messengers of Yama)
• Mukti (Mokṣa)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Remember saṁsāra’s suffering and Yama’s terrors; do not abandon Kāśī, which Śiva grants by grace and which offers near-at-hand liberation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), praised as a Śiva-granted sacred kṣetra where mokṣa is described as ‘karastha’—within one’s grasp.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific rite (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is stated in this verse; the emphasis is on steadfast residence/attachment to Kāśī and reliance on Śiva’s anugraha (grace).