Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 96

Devanagari script

प्रोद्यत्कादंबिनीमध्य विद्युद्दामसमानरुक् । पुरः पीतांबरः कृष्णस्तेन नेत्रातिथीकृतः

Transliteration

prodyatkādaṃbinīmadhya vidyuddāmasamānaruk | puraḥ pītāṃbaraḥ kṛṣṇastena netrātithīkṛtaḥ

Translation

แล้วเบื้องหน้าเขา พระกฤษณะทรงอาภรณ์สีเหลืองก็ปรากฏ พระวรกายสว่างดุจสายฟ้าท่ามกลางหมู่เมฆฝนที่ก่อตัวขึ้น เป็นดั่งอาคันตุกะอันเป็นมงคลแก่ดวงตาของธรุวะ

Word by Word

• prodyat: rising, appearing
• prodyat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pra-ud-√yam (धातु) → prodyat (कृदन्त, वर्तमानकृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ), प्रथमा-एकवचन, नपुंसकलिङ्ग (agreeing with kādambinīmadhye understood as locative setting; used adjectivally) — Present active participle, nominative singular, neuter (used adverbially/qualifying)

• kādambinī-madhye: in the middle of a cloud-bank
• kādambinī-madhye: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kādambinī (प्रातिपदिक) + madhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (कादंबिनी) + नपुंसकलिङ्ग (मध्य); सप्तमी-एकवचन — Locative singular: “in the midst of the cloud-mass”

• vidyut-dāma-samāna-ruk: with radiance like a lightning-flash
• vidyut-dāma-samāna-ruk: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vidyut (प्रातिपदिक) + dāma (प्रातिपदिक) + samāna (प्रातिपदिक) + ruk (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुपद-तत्पुरुषसमास; प्रथमा-एकवचन, स्त्री/पुंलिङ्ग (contextually qualifying kṛṣṇaḥ as having such lustre) — Nominative singular adjective: “having lustre equal to a streak of lightning”

• puraḥ: in front
• puraḥ: Desha-adhikarana (Locative adverbial/देशाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: puras (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (स्थानवाचक) — Indeclinable adverb: “in front”

• pīta-ambaraḥ: wearing yellow garments
• pīta-ambaraḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pīta (प्रातिपदिक) + ambara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारयसमास; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचन — Nominative singular masculine: “yellow-clad”

• kṛṣṇaḥ: Kṛṣṇa
• kṛṣṇaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛṣṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचन — Nominative singular masculine

• tena: by him / thereby
• tena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, तृतीया-एकवचन — Instrumental singular: “by him/thereby”

• netra-atithi-kṛtaḥ: made a guest of (one’s) eyes; beheld with delight
• netra-atithi-kṛtaḥ: Karma-samānādhikaraṇa (Object-related predicate/कर्मसमानाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: netra (प्रातिपदिक) + atithi (प्रातिपदिक) + √kṛ (धातु) → kṛta (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचन — Past passive participle used adjectivally: “made a guest of the eyes”

Speaker

Skanda (deduced Kāśīkhaṇḍa narrative voice, typically to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (typical frame)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A rain-cloud mass rises; within it a lightning-like radiance reveals Kṛṣṇa/Viṣṇu in a bright yellow garment, appearing directly before the devotee, whose eyes are fixed in astonished devotion.

Characters & Entities

• Kṛṣṇa
• Hari
• Dhruva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Pure devotion culminates in darśana—God becomes directly ‘visible’ to the steadfast devotee.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader setting is Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, where divine encounters are celebrated as part of Kāśī-māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse emphasizes the grace of divine vision rather than a specific rite.