Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 47

Devanagari script

भौमाष्टम्यां तत्र नरः स्नात्वा संतर्पयेत्पितॄन् । दृष्ट्वा च भैरवं कालं कलिं कालं च संजयेत्

Transliteration

bhaumāṣṭamyāṃ tatra naraḥ snātvā saṃtarpayetpitṝn | dṛṣṭvā ca bhairavaṃ kālaṃ kaliṃ kālaṃ ca saṃjayet

Translation

ในวันภาวมอัษฏมี บุรุษพึงอาบที่นั่นแล้วบูชาบรรพชนให้พอใจ และเมื่อได้เห็นภไรวะผู้เป็นกาลเอง ย่อมพิชิตกาลียุค และพิชิตกาลได้ด้วย

Word by Word

• bhaumāṣṭamyām: on Bhaumāṣṭamī
• bhaumāṣṭamyām: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhauma + aṣṭamī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन = Feminine, Locative singular; समासः: भौमस्य (मङ्गलस्य) अष्टमी (the eighth lunar day associated with Tuesday/Mars)

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक) = Indeclinable adverb of place (there)

• naraḥ: a man
• naraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन = Masculine, Nominative singular

• snātvā: having bathed
• snātvā: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: √snā (धातु) + ktvā (क्त्वा)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund) = Absolutive; पूर्वकाले (having bathed)

• saṃtarpayet: should satisfy/offer oblations to
• saṃtarpayet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: saṃ-√tṛp (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन = Optative 3rd sg; परस्मैपदम्

• pitṝn: the ancestors
• pitṝn: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), बहुवचन = Masculine, Accusative plural

• dṛṣṭvā: having seen
• dṛṣṭvā: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: √dṛś (धातु) + ktvā (क्त्वा)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund) = Absolutive; पूर्वकाले (having seen)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक) = Conjunction ‘and’

• bhairavam: Bhairava
• bhairavam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhairava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन = Masculine, Accusative singular

• kālam: Kāla (as an epithet)
• kālam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन = Masculine, Accusative singular; अत्र विशेषणरूपेण (as epithet)

• kalim: Kali (personified)
• kalim: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kali (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन = Masculine, Accusative singular

• kālam: Kāla
• kālam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन = Masculine, Accusative singular; पुनरुक्तिः (repetition for emphasis/parallelism)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (समुच्चयबोधक) = Conjunction ‘and’

• saṃjayet: should conquer/overcome
• saṃjayet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: saṃ-√ji (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन = Optative 3rd sg; परस्मैपदम्

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Bhairava Tīrtha

Type: ghat

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Tuesday Aṣṭamī: devotees at dawn bathe, then stand waist-deep offering tarpaṇa with cupped hands; later they behold fierce Kālabhairava with lamps; the air feels charged, as if time itself pauses.

Characters & Entities

• Skanda
• Bhairava
• Bhairava Tīrtha
• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Bhāuma Aṣṭamī
• Kali
• Kāla (Time/Death)
• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Right timing, ancestor-duty, and Bhairava-darśana together symbolize mastery over fear—Kali’s chaos and even the dread of time/death.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The context is Bhairava Tīrtha in Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

On Bhāuma Aṣṭamī: snāna at the tīrtha and pitṛ-tarpaṇa/saṃtarpana (offerings to ancestors), along with Bhairava darśana.