Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 17

Devanagari script

स्कंद उवाच । ओंनमो गंगादेव्यै । ओंकाररूपिण्यजराऽतुलाऽनमताऽमृतस्रवा । अत्युदाराऽभयाऽशोकाऽलकनंदाऽमृताऽमला

Transliteration

skaṃda uvāca | oṃnamo gaṃgādevyai | oṃkārarūpiṇyajarā'tulā'namatā'mṛtasravā | atyudārā'bhayā'śokā'lakanaṃdā'mṛtā'malā

Translation

สกันทะกล่าวว่า: ขอนอบน้อมแด่พระแม่คงคา ผู้มีรูปเป็น “โอม” ผู้ไม่ชรา ไร้ผู้เทียบ ผู้หลั่งสายน้ำอมฤตแก่ผู้ก้มกราบด้วยศรัทธา ผู้ใจกว้างยิ่ง ประทานความไร้ภัย ขจัดโศก—อาลกนันทา ผู้เป็นอมตะและบริสุทธิ์ไร้มลทิน

Word by Word

• स्कन्दः: Skanda
• स्कन्दः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्कन्द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

• ॐ: Om
• ॐ: Sambodhana/Invocation (आह्वान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ॐ (प्रणव/अव्यय)
• Form: प्रणव-स्वर (sacred syllable), अव्यय

• नमः: salutation
• नमः: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: निपात/अव्यय; नमः + चतुर्थी (to) प्रयोग

• गङ्गादेव्यै: to Goddess Ganga
• गङ्गादेव्यै: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गङ्गा (प्रातिपदिक) + देवी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी-विभक्ति (4th/Dative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (गङ्गायाः देवी)

• ॐकाररूपिणी: having the form of Omkara
• ॐकाररूपिणी: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ॐकार (प्रातिपदिक) + रूपिणी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (ॐकारस्य रूपिणी)

• अजरा: ageless
• अजरा: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अजरा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• अतुला: incomparable
• अतुला: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अतुला (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• अनमता: unbowed/unyielding
• अनमता: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनमता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; न-उपसर्गयुक्त (not bowed/unyielding)

• अमृतस्रवा: nectar-flowing
• अमृतस्रवा: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अमृत (प्रातिपदिक) + स्रवा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (अमृतं स्रवति इति)

• अत्युदारा: exceedingly generous
• अत्युदारा: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अति (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + उदारा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (अति उदारा)

• अभया: fearless; giver of fearlessness
• अभया: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अभया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• अशोका: sorrowless; removing sorrow
• अशोका: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अशोका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• अलकनन्दा: Alakananda (Ganga)
• अलकनन्दा: Visheshya (Qualified noun/विशेष्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अलकनन्दा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• अमृता: immortal; nectar-like
• अमृता: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अमृता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• अमला: spotless; pure
• अमला: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अमला (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Kāśī-sannidhāna)

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Skanda as narrator offers a luminous hymn to Gaṅgā; the river appears as a radiant goddess arising from Oṁ, flowing past Kāśī’s ghāṭas with a nectar-like shimmer, granting fearlessness and removing sorrow.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Gaṅgā
• Oṁkāra
• Alakanandā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Reverent surrender to Gaṅgā is portrayed as a direct encounter with purity and nectar-like grace—fear and sorrow are dispelled through devotion.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Gaṅgā in the Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) sacred landscape—praised as the purifying, nectar-flowing divine river central to Kāśī-māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is commanded here; the verse emphasizes namaskāra (bowing/salutation) to Gaṅgā as a devotional act.