Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

अयि काशि विनाशिताघसंघे तवविश्लेषजआशुशुक्षणिः । अमृतांशुकलामृदुद्रवैरतिचित्रंहविषेव वर्धते

Transliteration

ayi kāśi vināśitāghasaṃghe tavaviśleṣajaāśuśukṣaṇiḥ | amṛtāṃśukalāmṛdudravairaticitraṃhaviṣeva vardhate

Translation

โอ้ กาศี ผู้ทำลายกองบาปทั้งปวง! ความปวดร้าวที่เกิดจากการพรากจากท่าน ซึ่งแห้งผากรวดเร็ว กลับทวีขึ้นอย่างประหลาด—ดุจไฟบูชาที่ลุกโพลงเมื่อได้รับเนยใสอ่อนนุ่มด้วยรัศมีจันทร์ดุจอมฤต

Word by Word

• अयि: O!
• अयि: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अयि (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बोधनार्थक-निपात

• काशि: O Kāśī
• काशि: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• विनाशित-अघ-संघे: O destroyer of the host of sins
• विनाशित-अघ-संघे: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विनाशित (कृदन्त) + अघ + संघ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन; समासः: तत्पुरुष (अघानां संघः; विनाशितः अघसंघः यस्याः सा)

• तव: your
• तव: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी, एकवचन

• विश्लेष-ज: born of separation
• विश्लेष-ज: Visheshana (Qualifier of शुक्षणिः)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विश्लेष + ज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समासः: तत्पुरुष (विश्लेषात् जातः)

• आशु-शुक्षणिः: swift drying-up (wasting)
• आशु-शुक्षणिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आशु (अव्यय) + शुक्षणि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समासः: अव्ययीभाव (आशु = शीघ्रम्) + शुक्षणिः (शोष/शुष्कता-भावः)

• अमृतांशु-कला-मृदु-द्रवैः: by soft liquids of the moon’s rays
• अमृतांशु-कला-मृदु-द्रवैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अमृतांशु + कला + मृदु + द्रव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; समासः: तत्पुरुष (अमृतांशोः कला; तया मृदवः द्रवाः)

• अति-चित्रम्: very wondrous
• अति-चित्रम्: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/Predicative qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अति (अव्यय) + चित्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा, एकवचन; अव्ययीभाव-पूर्वपद ‘अति-’

• हविषा: with oblation
• हविषा: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हविस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• इव: like
• इव: Sambandha (Comparison marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमानार्थक-अव्यय (like/as)

• वर्धते: grows, increases
• वर्धते: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृध् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

Speaker

Śiva

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī/Avimukta

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s audience within the frame narrative

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sacrificial fire flares as moon-cooled ghee is poured; simultaneously, Śiva’s separation-pain from Kāśī ‘dries quickly’ yet paradoxically grows—an alchemical devotional image.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Kāśī
• Moon (amṛtāṃśu)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is praised as a sin-destroying field; separation from such a liberating place intensifies spiritual thirst, depicted through a yajña-fire metaphor.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra), explicitly lauded as ‘vināśitāgha-saṅgha’—the destroyer of accumulated sins.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription; the imagery draws on yajña (havis/oblation) to communicate how longing for Kāśī powerfully grows.