Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 130

Devanagari script

महाश्मशानमासाद्य यदि देवाद्विपद्यते । पुनः श्मशानशयनं न क्वापि लभते पुमान्

Transliteration

mahāśmaśānamāsādya yadi devādvipadyate | punaḥ śmaśānaśayanaṃ na kvāpi labhate pumān

Translation

เมื่อบุรุษไปถึงมหาศฺมศาน แล้วจากไปตามพระประสงค์ของเทพ เขาย่อมไม่อาจได้ “นอนในป่าช้า” อีก ณ ที่ใดเลย—คือไม่กลับมาประสบความตายเช่นนั้นอีก

Word by Word

• महाश्मशानम्: the great cremation-ground
• महाश्मशानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + श्मशान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय (महच्च तत् श्मशानम्)

• आसाद्य: having reached
• आसाद्य: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-√सद् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभाव; पूर्वकालिक क्रिया (having reached)

• यदि: if
• यदि: Avyaya (Particle/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्धबोधक-अव्यय (conditional conjunction: if)

• देवात्: from the god (Śiva)
• देवात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन

• विपद्यते: falls away, deviates
• विपद्यते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-√पद् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• पुनः: again
• पुनः: Avyaya (Particle/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: again)

• श्मशान-शयनम्: lying in the cremation-ground
• श्मशान-शयनम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्मशान (प्रातिपदिक) + शयन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (श्मशाने शयनम्/श्मशानस्य शयनम्)

• न: not
• न: Avyaya (Particle/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध (negation particle)

• क्वापि: anywhere
• क्वापि: Desha (Location/देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्व (अव्यय) + अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: स्थानवाचक-अव्यय (indefinite locative adverb: anywhere)

• लभते: obtains
• लभते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लभ् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• पुमान्: a man
• पुमान्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुमांस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; पुमांस्-शब्द

Speaker

Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Mahāśmaśāna (Kāśī)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (contextual)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Night at the cremation ghāṭ: funeral pyres blaze; a departing soul is shown rising toward a calm, luminous Śiva-presence, suggesting release rather than fear.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Mahāśmaśāna

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Death in Kāśī’s Mahāśmaśāna is portrayed as spiritually decisive, preventing a return to repeated mortal fate.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Mahāśmaśāna in Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), a famed cremation-ground associated with Śiva’s liberating grace.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite is prescribed; the verse emphasizes the salvific significance of reaching Mahāśmaśāna at life’s end.