Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 36

Devanagari script

न मोक्षलक्ष्म्योत्र समक्षमीक्षितास्तनूभृता केनचिदेव कुत्रचित् । अवैम्यहं शर्मद सर्वशर्मदा सरूपिणी मुक्तिरसौ हि काशिका

Transliteration

na mokṣalakṣmyotra samakṣamīkṣitāstanūbhṛtā kenacideva kutracit | avaimyahaṃ śarmada sarvaśarmadā sarūpiṇī muktirasau hi kāśikā

Translation

Нигде более «счастье освобождения» не созерцается столь явно существами, облеченными в тело. Я понял: сама Кашика — дарующая блаженство и источник всякого блага — есть освобождение в зримом облике.

Word by Word

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (निपात)
• Form: निषेध-निपात

• mokṣa-lakṣmīḥ: the fortune of liberation
• mokṣa-lakṣmīḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mokṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + lakṣmī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘मोक्षलक्ष्मी’ = fortune of liberation; Feminine nominative singular

• utra: here
• utra: Desha (Adverbial/देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: utra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (deictic adverb) = here/there; in this context ‘here’

• samakṣam: in front/manifestly
• samakṣam: Desha (Adverbial/देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: samakṣa (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययार्थ)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण) ‘समक्षम्’ = in presence, before the eyes

• īkṣitā: seen
• īkṣitā: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: īkṣ (ईक्ष्) (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय, भूतकर्मणि), स्त्रीलिङ्ग प्रथमा एकवचन; past passive participle ‘seen’ (agreeing with mokṣalakṣmīḥ)

• tanū-bhṛtā: by any embodied being
• tanū-bhṛtā: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tanū (प्रातिपदिक) + bhṛ (भृ) (धातु/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘तनूभृत्’ = embodied being; Instrumental singular ‘by an embodied being’

• kenacit: by anyone
• kenacit: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (किम्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; enclitic -cit (indefinite): ‘by anyone’

• eva: indeed/ever
• eva: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, अवधारण (emphatic particle)

• kutracit: anywhere
• kutracit: Desha (Adverbial/देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kutra (अव्यय) + cit (निपात)
• Form: अव्यय (interrogative/indefinite adverb) ‘anywhere’

• avaimi: I know
• avaimi: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ava-√i (अव+इ) (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद; 1st sg present: ‘I know/understand’

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; Nominative singular

• śarma-dām: bliss-giving
• śarma-dām: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śarman (प्रातिपदिक) + dā (दा)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: ‘शर्मदा’ = giver of bliss/comfort; (address/qualifier)

• sarva-śarma-dām: giver of all happiness
• sarva-śarma-dām: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + śarman (प्रातिपदिक) + dā (दा)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; Tatpuruṣa: giver of all happiness

• sa-rūpiṇī: of the same nature/form
• sa-rūpiṇī: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sa (सह) + rūpinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; Karmadhāraya: ‘सरूपिणी’ = having the same form/nature (as Kāśī); Feminine nominative singular

• muktiḥ: liberation
• muktiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mukti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; Feminine nominative singular

• asau: that (very)
• asau: Samanadhikarana (Apposition/समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adas (अदस्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; demonstrative ‘that/this (yonder)’

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, हेत्वर्थ/निश्चयार्थ (indeed/for)

• kāśikā: Kāśikā (Kāśī)
• kāśikā: Samanadhikarana (Apposition/समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśikā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; Feminine nominative singular

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda to Agastya)

Characters & Entities

• Kāśikā
• Kāśī
• Mukti (Liberation)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is not merely a means to liberation; it is portrayed as liberation itself, accessible to embodied beings.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Kāśikā), revered as mukti-svarūpa—liberation in embodied form.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No specific rite is prescribed; the verse stresses direct spiritual realization through Kāśī’s sanctity.