Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 84

Devanagari script

हरिकेशो विचार्येति यातो वाराणसीं पुरीम् । यत्राविमुक्ते जंतूनां त्यजतां पार्थिवीं तनुम्

Transliteration

harikeśo vicāryeti yāto vārāṇasīṃ purīm | yatrāvimukte jaṃtūnāṃ tyajatāṃ pārthivīṃ tanum

Translation

ครั้นพิจารณาดังนี้แล้ว หริเกศะจึงออกเดินทางสู่มหานครพาราณสี—อวิมุกตะ—ที่ซึ่งเมื่อสรรพสัตว์สละกายธาตุดิน กฎแห่งเกษตรอันให้โมกษะย่อมดำรงผล

Word by Word

• हरिकेशः: Harikeśa (one with tawny/greenish hair; proper name)
• हरिकेशः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हरि-केश (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्ता

• विचार्य: having considered
• विचार्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-चर् (धातु) + ल्यप् (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त/ल्यपन्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund), ‘having reflected/considered’

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Quotative/इति)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरण/वाक्यसमाप्ति-निपात (quotative particle)

• यातः: went, having gone
• यातः: Karta (Subject predicate/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्तरि-भाव (gone)

• वाराणसीम्: to Vārāṇasī
• वाराणसीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाराणसी (प्रातिपदिक; स्थाननाम)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म (destination)

• पुरीम्: the city
• पुरीम्: Karma (Object/apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; अपादान/कर्म (apposition to वाराणसीम्)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (relative adverb of place)

• अविमुक्ते: in Avimukta (the sacred area)
• अविमुक्ते: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अविमुक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग (स्थाननाम), सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरण

• जन्तूनाम्: of beings
• जन्तूनाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्तु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध (of creatures)

• त्यजताम्: of (those) abandoning
• त्यजताम्: Sambandha (Genitive qualifier/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु) + शतृ (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ), पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन; ‘त्यजत्’ = abandoning

• पार्थिवीम्: earthly
• पार्थिवीम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पार्थिव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying ‘तनुम्’)

• तनुम्: body
• तनुम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तनु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्म (object of ‘त्यजताम्’)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Avimukta (Vārāṇasī/Kāśī)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: null

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Harikeśa, having reflected, begins his journey toward Vārāṇasī: a pilgrim on the road with staff and waterpot, the distant skyline of Kāśī’s temples and ghāṭs emerging, signifying the pull of Avimukta’s liberating promise.

Characters & Entities

• Harikeśa
• Vārāṇasī
• Avimukta
• Kāśī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Wise discernment leads the seeker toward Avimukta (Kāśī), renowned as a place where the moment of leaving the body is spiritually decisive.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), specifically Avimukta-kṣetra.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse frames pilgrimage/residence in Avimukta as the central religious act.