Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 90

Devanagari script

अरूपोपि सरूपाढ्यः स धात्रा नेत्रगीकृतः । तारयेद्यद्भवांभोधेः स्वजपासक्तमानसम् । ततस्तार इति ख्यातो यस्तं ब्रह्मा व्यलोकयत्

Transliteration

arūpopi sarūpāḍhyaḥ sa dhātrā netragīkṛtaḥ | tārayedyadbhavāṃbhodheḥ svajapāsaktamānasam | tatastāra iti khyāto yastaṃ brahmā vyalokayat

Translation

ਭਾਵੇਂ ਉਹ ਅਰੂਪ ਹੈ, ਤੱਥਾਪਿ ਸਭ ਰੂਪਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਭਰਪੂਰ ਹੈ। ਧਾਤਾ ਨੇ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਅੰਤਰ-ਦ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਟੀ ਦਾ ਵਿਸ਼ਾ ਬਣਾਇਆ; ਕਿਉਂਕਿ ਉਹ ਆਪਣੇ ਜਪ ਵਿੱਚ ਲੀਨ ਮਨ ਨੂੰ ਸੰਸਾਰ-ਸਮੁੰਦਰ ਤੋਂ ਪਾਰ ਲੰਘਾ ਦਿੰਦਾ ਹੈ। ਇਸ ਲਈ ਉਹ “ਤਾਰਾ” ਨਾਮ ਨਾਲ ਪ੍ਰਸਿੱਧ ਹੈ—ਜਿਸ ਨੂੰ ਬ੍ਰਹਮਾ ਨੇ ਦਰਸ਼ਨ ਕੀਤਾ।

Word by Word

• arūpaḥ: formless
• arūpaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; नञ्-तत्पुरुषः (न + रूप) = 'रूपरहितः'

• api: even/also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), 'अपि' = 'even/also'

• sarūpa-āḍhyaḥ: endowed with form/beauty
• sarūpa-āḍhyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sa-rūpa + āḍhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः—'सरूपः च आढ्यः' = 'रूपसम्पन्नः/समृद्धः'

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• dhātrā: by the Creator (Dhātṛ/Brahmā)
• dhātrā: Karta (Agent in passive/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhātṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; करण/कर्तृ-निर्देशे

• netra-gī-kṛtaḥ: made/placed in the eye(s)
• netra-gī-kṛtaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: netra + gī + kṛ (कृ धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (क्त) 'कृत'; तत्पुरुषः—'नेत्रे गी(=गि/गी-शब्दः) कृतः' = 'नेत्रे स्थापितः/नेत्रगतः'

• tārayet: may he ferry across / save
• tārayet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: tṝ (तॄ धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; causative sense 'to cause to cross/save'

• yat: which/that (one)
• yat: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक (relative pronoun)

• bhava-ambhodheḥ: from the ocean of becoming (saṃsāra)
• bhava-ambhodheḥ: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhava + ambhodhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—'भवस्य अम्भोधिः' = 'संसारसागरः'

• sva-japa-āsakta-mānasam: whose mind is attached to one’s own japa
• sva-japa-āsakta-mānasam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sva + japa + āsakta + mānasa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः—'स्वजपे आसक्तं मानसं यस्य' (अर्थतः बहुव्रीह्यर्थ-विशेषण)

• tataḥ: therefore/then
• tataḥ: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, अव्ययीभावार्थे/क्रियाविशेषण; 'therefore/then'

• tāraḥ: Tāra (name)
• tāraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Quotative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, उद्धरण/इति-निपात

• khyātaḥ: was known/called
• khyātaḥ: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: khyā (ख्या धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्मणि/भावे—'प्रसिद्धः'

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक

• tam: him/that
• tam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• brahmā: Brahmā
• brahmā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• vyalokayat: looked at/observed
• vyalokayat: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi + lok (लोक् धातु)
• Form: लङ् (imperfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; 'व्य-आ-लोकयत्'

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer audience (ṛṣis/śaunaka-lineage typical frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Brahmā (Dhātṛ), lotus-born, seated in meditation, beholds within the heart a luminous, formless-yet-all-formed presence as a radiant syllable/seed-sound ‘Tāra’, depicted as a subtle boat of light carrying a japa-absorbed seeker across a dark ocean of becoming.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā (Dhātṛ)
• Tāra (liberating sound/mantra)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotion expressed as mantra-japa becomes a ferry across saṃsāra; the liberating principle is the Tāra sound.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching belongs to Kāśī’s Māhātmya framework, where liberation is linked with the Tāra/Pranava tradition of Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Japa (repetition/meditation on the saving mantra) with a mind absorbed in it.