Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 19

Devanagari script

मध्ये दुर्गप्रविष्टौ च ममवश्याविमौ न यत् । एकदृष्टिः क्षणं तस्थौ श्येन इत्थं विचिंतयन्

Transliteration

madhye durgapraviṣṭau ca mamavaśyāvimau na yat | ekadṛṣṭiḥ kṣaṇaṃ tasthau śyena itthaṃ viciṃtayan

Translation

“บัดนี้เมื่อมันเข้าไปในป้อมแล้ว นกสองตัวนี้ก็ไม่อยู่ใต้อำนาจเรา” คิดดังนี้ เหยี่ยวจึงยืนนิ่งชั่วขณะด้วยสายตาจ้องแน่วแน่

Word by Word

• madhye: in the middle
• madhye: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: madhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन

• durga-praviṣṭau: having entered the fort
• durga-praviṣṭau: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: durga (प्रातिपदिक) + pra-√viś (विश् धातु)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), द्विवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त ‘प्रविष्ट’ + तत्पुरुष-समास (दुर्गे प्रविष्टौ)

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

• mama: my
• mama: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• avaśyau: controllable, subject (to me)
• avaśyau: Karta (Subject-qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: avaśya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), द्विवचन; विशेषण

• imau: these two
• imau: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), द्विवचन; सर्वनाम

• na: not
• na: Pratishedha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• yat: since/that
• yat: Hetu (Reason-marker/हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सम्बन्धबोधक-अव्यय (relative particle: ‘since/that’)

• eka-dṛṣṭiḥ: with fixed gaze
• eka-dṛṣṭiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + dṛṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समास (एका दृष्टीः यस्य/एकदृष्टिः = fixed gaze)

• kṣaṇam: for a moment
• kṣaṇam: Kriya-viseshana (Duration/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; कालवाचक

• tasthau: stood
• tasthau: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √sthā (स्था धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परस्मैपद), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• śyenaḥ: the hawk
• śyenaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śyena (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• ittham: thus
• ittham: Kriya-viseshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ittham (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb: thus)

• viciṃtayan: thinking, pondering
• viciṃtayan: Karta (Agent-qualifier/कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-√cint (चिन्त् धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त वर्तमानकृदन्त (present participle) पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; उपसर्गः ‘vi-’

Speaker

Skanda (contextual narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Sages (assumed)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The hawk stands motionless, eyes fixed, at the temple’s edge; the doorway is calm and luminous; the doves are unseen but implied safe within; the scene is suspended in a quiet, charged stillness.

Characters & Entities

• Śyena (hawk)
• Pārāvata couple
• Durga (fort/refuge)
• Śiva temple

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Entering a consecrated refuge places beings beyond ordinary aggression, underscoring dharmic protection.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī’s Śaiva sanctuaries are implied as inviolable refuges, likened to a fortress.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse teaches through narrative symbolism rather than ritual instruction.