Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

कौशिकेथ तथावृत्ते पुत्रवीक्षणलालसा । अंडं प्रस्फोटयामास मध्यमं विनता तदा

Transliteration

kauśiketha tathāvṛtte putravīkṣaṇalālasā | aṃḍaṃ prasphoṭayāmāsa madhyamaṃ vinatā tadā

Translation

ਹੇ ਕੌਸ਼ਿਕ! ਜਦੋਂ ਹਾਲਾਤ ਇਉਂ ਬਣ ਗਏ, ਤਾਂ ਪੁੱਤਰ ਨੂੰ ਵੇਖਣ ਦੀ ਲਾਲਸਾ ਨਾਲ ਵਿਨਤਾ ਨੇ ਤਦ ਮੱਧਲਾ ਅੰਡਾ ਤੋੜ ਦਿੱਤਾ।

Word by Word

• कौशिके: in/at Kauśika (place/person-context)
• कौशिके: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौशिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, सप्तमी (7th/locative), एकवचनम्; ‘कौशिके (ऋषौ/देशे)’—सन्दर्भे अधिकरणम्

• इथ: thus, then
• इथ: Kriya-visheshaṇa (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (काल/प्रकारवाचक): ‘then/thus’

• तथा: thus, in that manner
• तथा: Kriya-visheshaṇa (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय: ‘so/in that way’

• वृत्ते: when it had happened/occurred
• वृत्ते: Adhikarana (Locative absolute/सप्तमी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृत्त (प्रातिपदिक; √वृत् क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, सप्तमी (7th/locative), एकवचनम्; ‘वृत्ते’ = ‘घटिते/समाप्ते’ (locative absolute sense with implied ‘सति’)

• पुत्रवीक्षणलालसा: desire to see her son
• पुत्रवीक्षणलालसा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्र (प्रातिपदिक) + वीक्षण (प्रातिपदिक) + लालसा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा (1st/nominative), एकवचनम्; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (पुत्रस्य वीक्षणे लालसा)

• अण्डम्: egg
• अण्डम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अण्ड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया (2nd/accusative), एकवचनम्

• प्रस्फोटयामास: she broke open, caused to burst
• प्रस्फोटयामास: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + स्फुट्/स्फोट् (धातु) + णिच् (causative)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd), एकवचनम्; णिजन्त-धातोः ‘प्रस्फोटयति’—‘caused to burst/broke open’

• मध्यमम्: the middle (one)
• मध्यमम्: Karma (Object qualifier/कर्मविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मध्यम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया (2nd/accusative), एकवचनम्; ‘अण्डम्’ इति विशेषणम्

• विनता: Vinatā
• विनता: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विनता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा (1st/nominative), एकवचनम्

• तदा: then
• तदा: Kala-adhikarana (Time adjunct/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (temporal adverb): ‘then/at that time’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative voice)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (contextual frame)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Kauśika is addressed within the internal dialogue (as per vocative)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Vinatā, anxious and yearning, breaks the middle egg; the moment is intimate yet ominous, with a half-revealed radiance within the shell.

Characters & Entities

• Kauśika
• Vinatā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Impatience—even from maternal longing—can lead to unintended consequences; dharma favors restraint and proper timing.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The larger section belongs to Kāśī’s sacred corpus (Kāśīkhaṇḍa), but this verse itself is a mythic prelude rather than a tīrtha description.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.