Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 85

Devanagari script

यद्ब्रह्मविष्णुरुद्राद्यास्तथाख्या देहिनामिमाः । आख्या यथास्मदादीनां पुण्यकीर्त्यादिरुच्यते

Transliteration

yadbrahmaviṣṇurudrādyāstathākhyā dehināmimāḥ | ākhyā yathāsmadādīnāṃ puṇyakīrtyādirucyate

Translation

ดังที่สัตว์ผู้มีร่างกายถูกเรียกด้วยนามว่า ‘พรหมา’ ‘วิษณุ’ ‘รุทระ’ เป็นต้น ฉันใด สำหรับคนอย่างเราก็มีนามเรียก—เช่น ‘ปุณยกีรติ’—ที่ใช้กันในถ้อยคำทั่วไปฉันนั้น

Word by Word

• यत्: that which / whatever
• यत्: Sambandha (Relative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध-सर्वनाम (relative)

• ब्रह्म-विष्णु-रुद्र-आद्याः: Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra and others
• ब्रह्म-विष्णु-रुद्र-आद्याः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + विष्णु (प्रातिपदिक) + रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; समासः—इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः (ब्रह्मा विष्णुः रुद्रः च आदयः)

• तथा: thus/so
• तथा: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकार-अव्यय (thus/so)

• आख्याः: are called/named (as)
• आख्याः: Predicate (Vidheyātmaka/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आख्या (प्रातिपदिक; ‘name/designation’)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• देहिनाम्: of embodied beings
• देहिनाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देहिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• इमाः: these
• इमाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम; ‘आख्याः’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• आख्याः: names/designations
• आख्याः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आख्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• यथा: just as
• यथा: Sambandha (Comparative/उपमान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमान/प्रकार-सूचक (as/just as)

• अस्मद्-आदीनाम्: of us and others
• अस्मद्-आदीनाम्: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (अस्मदादीनाम् = of us and others)

• पुण्य-कीर्ति-आदि: merit, fame, etc.
• पुण्य-कीर्ति-आदि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुण्य (प्रातिपदिक) + कीर्ति (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; समासः—समाहार-द्वन्द्वः (पुण्यं कीर्तिः च आदयः = merit, fame, etc. as a set)

• उच्यते: is said/called
• उच्यते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive), आत्मनेपद

Speaker

Puṇyakīrti (deduced continuation of speech)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: seekers/ṛṣis

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A didactic tableau: scrolls or palm-leaf manuscripts listing grand divine names beside ordinary village names, both dissolving into a single luminous background, indicating conventionality of labels.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā
• Viṣṇu
• Rudra
• Puṇyakīrti

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Names are conventional labels for embodied existence; wisdom distinguishes the name from the deeper reality it points toward.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The discourse belongs to Kāśī’s Kāśīkhaṇḍa, framing liberation-oriented reflection amid Kāśī’s sacred prestige.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is a teaching on nāma-rūpa (names/forms) rather than ritual action.