Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 81

Devanagari script

स्रष्टाविसृष्ट तद्ध्यानो यावदुन्मील्यलोचने । पुरः पश्येद्ददर्शाग्रे तावदक्षरमादिमम्

Transliteration

sraṣṭāvisṛṣṭa taddhyāno yāvadunmīlyalocane | puraḥ paśyeddadarśāgre tāvadakṣaramādimam

Translation

พระผู้สร้างผู้จดจ่อในกิจแห่งการแผ่กำเนิดนั้น ได้ลืมพระเนตร; ครั้นทอดพระเนตรไปเบื้องหน้า ก็ได้ประจักษ์ต่อหน้า “อักษระ” อันปฐม—ผู้ไม่เสื่อมสลาย

Word by Word

• sraṣṭā: the creator (Brahmā)
• sraṣṭā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sraṣṭṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• avisṛṣṭaḥ: not yet created/unsent forth
• avisṛṣṭaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sṛj (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय, past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; उपसर्गः आ-; नञ्-पूर्वकः (a- = ‘not’)

• tat: of that
• tat: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन (tad- = ‘of that’)

• dhyānaḥ: meditation; (in sense) meditating on that
• dhyānaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhyāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; बहुव्रीह्यर्थे ‘तद्ध्यानः’ = तद्ध्यानयुक्तः (one whose meditation is on that)

• yāvat: until/as long as
• yāvat: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (Temporal/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययार्थ)
• Form: अव्यय; कालपरिमाणवाचक (until/as long as)

• unmīlya: having opened
• unmīlya: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: unmīl (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त; ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), उपसर्गः उत्-; ‘having opened’

• locane: the two eyes
• locane: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: locana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), द्विवचन; (eyes)

• puraḥ: in front
• puraḥ: Desha-adhikaraṇa (Locative sense/देशाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: puras (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक (in front/before)

• paśyet: he would see
• paśyet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• dadarśa: he saw
• dadarśa: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (धातu)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• agre: at first/in front
• agre: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: agra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; देश/कालवाचक (at first/in front)

• tāvat: then/so long
• tāvat: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; तावत्-तावद् (so long/then)

• akṣaram: the syllable/imperishable (letter)
• akṣaram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: akṣara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• ādimam: primordial/first
• ādimam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ādima (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; विशेषण

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Brahmā opens his eyes from meditation; directly before him stands/gleams the ‘Ādimam Akṣaram’ as a radiant, formless yet legible presence—suggested as a luminous syllable or pillar of light.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā (Sraṣṭā)
• Akṣara (Primordial Imperishable)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Behind creation stands the Akṣara—the imperishable, primordial reality perceived when consciousness turns outward from deep absorption.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the overarching sacred geography; the teaching is framed as Kāśī’s revelatory wisdom on ultimate reality.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual is stated; the focus is on darśana (vision/realization) of the primordial Akṣara.