Skanda Purana — Vishnu Khanda, Shloka 114

Devanagari script

वाराणस्यां यथा विद्वन्वर्त्तते मणिकर्णिका । उज्जयिन्यां यथा विप्र महाकालनिकेतनम्

Transliteration

vārāṇasyāṃ yathā vidvanvarttate maṇikarṇikā | ujjayinyāṃ yathā vipra mahākālaniketanam

Translation

ดุจดังว่า โอ้บัณฑิต มณิกรณิกาเป็นที่เลื่องลือในพาราณสี และดุจดังว่า โอ้พราหมณ์ นิเวศน์แห่งมหากาลเป็นที่เลื่องชื่อในอุชเชนี—

Word by Word

• वाराणस्याम्: in Vārāṇasī
• वाराणस्याम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाराणसी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• यथा: just as
• यथा: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमान/प्रकारवाचक (comparative/‘just as’)

• विद्वन्: O learned one
• विद्वन्: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विद्वस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन (8th/vocative), एकवचन; ‘O learned one’

• वर्तते: exists; is found
• वर्तते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृत् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present); आत्मनेपद; प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; √वृत् (to exist/continue/abide)

• मणिकर्णिका: Maṇikarṇikā (sacred place)
• मणिकर्णिका: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मणिकर्णिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/कर्ता), एकवचन

• उज्जयिन्याम्: in Ujjayinī
• उज्जयिन्याम्: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उज्जयिनी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• यथा: just as
• यथा: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमान/प्रकारवाचक

• विप्र: O brāhmaṇa
• विप्र: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन; ‘O brāhmaṇa’

• महाकालनिकेतनम्: the abode of Mahākāla
• महाकालनिकेतनम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाकाल-निकेतन (प्रातिपदिक); घटकाः: महाकाल + निकेतन
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (Mahākālasya niketanam)

Speaker

Unknown (Ayodhyāmāhātmya narrator; likely a Purāṇic teacher addressing a listener)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā; Mahākāla-niketanam (as exemplars)

Type: ghat

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Addressed to ‘vidvan’ and ‘vipra’ (learned one/brāhmaṇa) within the ongoing discourse

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A comparative tableau: left, Maṇikarṇikā ghāṭ in Vārāṇasī with funeral pyres and Gaṅgā; right, Mahākāla temple in Ujjain with liṅga worship; a narrator gestures as if saying ‘just as… so also…’.

Characters & Entities

• Vārāṇasī
• Maṇikarṇikā
• Ujjayinī
• Mahākāla

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇic praise often establishes a site’s greatness by comparing it to universally revered pilgrimage landmarks.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Maṇikarṇikā (Vārāṇasī) and Mahākāla’s abode (Ujjayinī) are cited as exemplars to frame Ayodhyā’s tīrtha greatness in the next verse.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct prescription here; it functions as a comparative eulogy setting up the Ayodhyā tīrtha.