Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 38

Devanagari script

शिशुघ्नी पापहंत्री च काली रुधिरपायिनी । वसाधया गर्भभक्षा शवहस्तांत्रमालिनी

Transliteration

śiśughnī pāpahaṃtrī ca kālī rudhirapāyinī | vasādhayā garbhabhakṣā śavahastāṃtramālinī

Translation

นางคือ ศิศุฆนี ผู้ทำลายบาป; กาลี ผู้ดื่มโลหิต; วสาธยา ครรภภักษา; และนางผู้ถือศพไว้ในมือ สวมพวงมาลัยแห่งไส้พุง

Word by Word

• शिशुघ्नी: infant-slaying
• शिशुघ्नी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शिशु (प्रातिपदिक) + घ्निन्/हन् (धातु)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कृदन्त-विशेषणम् (घ्निन्-प्रत्ययान्तः), षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (शिशून् घ्नन्ती)

• पापहन्त्री: destroyer of sin
• पापहन्त्री: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक) + हन् (धातु)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कृदन्त-विशेषणम् (हन्त्री—तृच्/तृन्-प्रत्ययार्थः agent noun), षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (पापं हन्ति)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्ययम् (conjunction)

• काली: Kālī
• काली: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काली (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; देवी-नाम

• रुधिरपायिनी: blood-drinking
• रुधिरपायिनी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रुधिर (प्रातिपदिक) + पा (धातु)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कृदन्त-विशेषणम् (पायिनी—णिनि/इनी-प्रत्ययान्तः ‘drinker’), षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (रुधिरं पिबन्ती)

• वसाधया: smeared with fat / fat-associated
• वसाधया: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वसा (प्रातिपदिक) + धय (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्ताधारः)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (वसाया धया/धयः—‘fat-smeared/associated’)

• गर्भभक्षा: devourer of fetuses
• गर्भभक्षा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गर्भ (प्रातिपदिक) + भक्ष (धातु)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कृदन्त-विशेषणम् (भक्ष—agent/one who eats; भक्ष/भक्षिन्-अर्थे), षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (गर्भं भक्षयति)

• शवहस्तांत्रमालिनी: garlanded with corpse-hands and entrails
• शवहस्तांत्रमालिनी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शव (प्रातिपदिक) + हस्त (प्रातिपदिक) + आन्त्र (प्रातिपदिक) + मालिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुपद-षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (शवस्य हस्ताः, आन्त्राणि च—तैः मालिनी)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-śmaśāna/ghāṭa-mahattva (within Kāśī-kṣetra)

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Kālī-like Devī stands amid cremation fires by the Ganga at night, garlanded with entrails, holding a corpse-emblem; despite terror, her gaze signifies pāpa-haraṇa and protection of the kṣetra.

Characters & Entities

• Kālī
• Yoginīs
• Kāśī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Even terrifying forms in Purāṇic literature can function as protectors when approached through sanctioned remembrance (nāma) and dharmic intent.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the overarching sacred geography of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, within which these Yoginī names are presented as spiritually efficacious.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse is a continuation of the nāma-list; the practice of daily, tri-sandhyā japa is taught later in the passage.