Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 80

Devanagari script

शशका मशका कीटाः पतं गास्तुरगोरगाः । पंचक्रोश्यां मृताः काश्यां संतु निर्वाणदीक्षिताः

Transliteration

śaśakā maśakā kīṭāḥ pataṃ gāsturagoragāḥ | paṃcakrośyāṃ mṛtāḥ kāśyāṃ saṃtu nirvāṇadīkṣitāḥ

Translation

காசியில் பஞ்சக்ரோஷி வட்டத்திற்குள் முயல்கள், கொசுக்கள், பூச்சிகள், பறவைகள், குதிரைகள், பாம்புகள் இறந்தாலும்—அவை அனைத்தும் நிர்வாண தீட்சை பெற்றதுபோல ஆகட்டும்.

Word by Word

• śaśakāḥ: hares/rabbits
• śaśakāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaśaka (शशक प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• maśakāḥ: mosquitoes
• maśakāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maśaka (मशक प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• kīṭāḥ: insects/worms
• kīṭāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kīṭa (कीट प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• pataṅgāḥ: moths/winged insects
• pataṅgāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pataṅga (पतङ्ग प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• turaga-uragāḥ: horses and serpents
• turaga-uragāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: turaga + uraga (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; द्वन्द्व-समास (तुरगाश्च उरगाश्च)

• paṃcakrośyām: in the five-krośa area (Pañcakrośī)
• paṃcakrośyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: paṃca + krośī (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (पञ्च क्रोशाः प्रमाणं यस्याः)

• mṛtāḥ: dead/having died
• mṛtāḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mṛ (मृ धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle) ‘mṛta’; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• kāśyām: in Kāśī
• kāśyām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (काशी प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन

• santu: may they be
• santu: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (अस् धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative/benedictive), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• nirvāṇa-dīkṣitāḥ: initiated into liberation
• nirvāṇa-dīkṣitāḥ: Samanaadhikarana (Predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nirvāṇa + dīkṣita (प्रातिपदिके)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (निर्वाणाय दीक्षिताः / निर्वाण-दीक्षा-युक्ताः)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Pañcakrośī (Kāśī-parikramā kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage audience; traditional ṛṣi interlocutors

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic panorama of the Pañcakrośī circuit: boundary markers and ghāṭas; diverse creatures (rabbit, mosquito, insect, bird, horse, serpent) shown under a protective Śiva-aura, signifying ‘nirvāṇa-dīkṣā’ upon death in Kāśī.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
• Pañcakrośī
• Nirvāṇa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī’s sanctity is so great that even non-human beings who die within its Pañcakrośī boundary are envisioned as attaining liberating consecration.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī, specifically the Pañcakrośī (five-krośa) sacred circuit around Vārāṇasī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implicitly, the Pañcakrośī boundary and its sanctity; the verse supports the ideology behind Pañcakrośī-parikramā as a liberative sacred circuit.