Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 46

Devanagari script

या मे मुक्तिपुरी काशी सर्वाभ्योपि गरीयसी । आधिपत्यं च तस्यास्ते कालराज सदैव हि

Transliteration

yā me muktipurī kāśī sarvābhyopi garīyasī | ādhipatyaṃ ca tasyāste kālarāja sadaiva hi

Translation

กาศี—นครแห่งโมกษะของเรา อันประเสริฐยิ่งกว่านครทั้งปวง—เหนือกาศีนั้น โอ้ราชาแห่งกาล อำนาจของท่านจักตั้งมั่นอยู่เป็นนิตย์

Word by Word

• yā: which (she)
• yā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध-प्रत्यय (relative pronoun)

• me: my
• me: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी/चतुर्थी-एकवचन रूप (Genitive/Dative); अत्र षष्ठी (my)

• muktipurī: city of liberation
• muktipurī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mukti-purī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (मुक्तेः पुरी)

• kāśī: Kashi
• kāśī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेष्य-समनाधिकरण (apposition to muktipurī)

• sarvābhyā: than all (others)
• sarvābhyā: Apādāna (Comparison source/अपादान)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative), बहुवचन; ‘सर्वाभ्यः’ इत्यर्थे वैदिक/छान्दस रूप ‘-आ’

• api: even; also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चय/अपि-निपात (also/even)

• garīyasī: greater; more venerable
• garīyasī: Viśeṣaṇa (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: garīyas (प्रातिपदिक; गुरु-तुल्यतर/तमीप)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तुलनात्मक-विशेषण (comparative)

• ādhipatyam: sovereignty; lordship
• ādhipatyam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ādhipatya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

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

• tasyāḥ: of her (of that Kashi)
• tasyāḥ: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), एकवचन

• te: your
• te: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), एकवचन

• aste: exists; belongs (to you)
• aste: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √ās (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद

• kālarāja: O King of Time (Yama)
• kālarāja: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla-rāja (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन; समासः—कर्मधारय (कालः एव राजा)

• sadaiva: always indeed
• sadaiva: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (Temporal/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadā-eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, कालवाचक-अव्यय (always) + अवधारण (indeed)

• hi: indeed; for
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, हेत्वर्थ/निश्चयार्थक-निपात (for/indeed)

Speaker

Śiva (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Mukti-purī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Kālarāja / Yama

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Śiva indicates the luminous city of Kāśī while addressing Kālarāja; the city appears as a mandala with ghats and temples, encircled by protective deities signifying eternal jurisdiction.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Kālarāja (Kālabhairava)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is framed as a supreme liberation-field, governed by Bhairava under Śiva’s ordinance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), explicitly called ‘muktipurī’—the city that grants mokṣa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct ritual is stated; the verse establishes sacred jurisdiction—Bhairava’s perpetual guardianship of Kāśī.