Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 37

Devanagari script

यस्मात्त्वद्रूपमालोक्य गोपाल्यः स्खलिता इमाः । तस्मात्कुष्ठी भव क्षिप्रमकांडागमनेन च

Transliteration

yasmāttvadrūpamālokya gopālyaḥ skhalitā imāḥ | tasmātkuṣṭhī bhava kṣipramakāṃḍāgamanena ca

Translation

నీ రూపాన్ని చూచి ఈ గోపికలు తడబడినందున, నీవు వెంటనే కుష్ఠురోగిగా అవు; ఆ వ్యాధి ఆలస్యం లేకుండా అకస్మాత్తుగా నీపై పడుగాక।

Word by Word

• yasmāt: because (of which)
• yasmāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yasmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सम्बन्ध/हेतु-अव्यय (ablatival particle sense), ‘because/from which’

• tvad-rūpam: your form
• tvad-rūpam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘your’ + ‘form’)

• ālokya: having seen
• ālokya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ā-√lok (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (Absolutive/Gerund), ‘having seen/after looking at’

• gopālyaḥ: cowherd women
• gopālyaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gopālī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन

• skhalitāḥ: have stumbled
• skhalitāḥ: Karta (Subject complement/कर्तृसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √skhal (धातु)
• Form: क्त (Past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘having stumbled/slipped’ (agreeing with gopālyaḥ)

• imāḥ: these
• imāḥ: Karta (Subject apposition/कर्ता)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• tasmāt: therefore
• tasmāt: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तस्मात्-इति हेत्वर्थे अव्ययप्रयोगः (‘therefore/from that reason’)

• kuṣṭhī: leprous
• kuṣṭhī: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (Predicate nominative/समानााधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kuṣṭhin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (predicative)

• bhava: become
• bhava: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन

• kṣipram: quickly
• kṣipram: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kṣipra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय (adverb)

• akāṇḍa-āgamanena: by an untimely arrival
• akāṇḍa-āgamanena: Karaṇa (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: a-kāṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक) + āgamana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (‘untimely’ + ‘arrival’)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

Speaker

Nārada (as narrator within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A charged moment of imprecation: cowherd maidens (gopālyas) recoiling and stumbling as a radiant youth’s beauty distracts them; a speaker pronounces a sudden curse of leprosy, foreshadowing karmic consequence.

Characters & Entities

• Gopālyaḥ (cowherd maidens)
• Sāmba
• Kṛṣṇa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Misuse of beauty and desire leads to immediate karmic consequence; restraint and humility are upheld as dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

This verse is part of the lead-up; the explicit glorification follows with Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) as the place of purification.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None here; it states the onset of a curse (kuṣṭha) as a karmic result.