Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 89

Devanagari script

मया सृष्टानि विप्रेंद्र भुवनानि चतुर्दश । अस्याः पुर्या विनिर्माता स्वयं विश्वेश्वरः प्रभुः

Transliteration

mayā sṛṣṭāni vipreṃdra bhuvanāni caturdaśa | asyāḥ puryā vinirmātā svayaṃ viśveśvaraḥ prabhuḥ

Translation

اے برہمنوں کے سردار! میرے ہی ذریعہ چودہ بھون (عالم) پیدا کیے گئے؛ مگر اس نگری کا بنانے والا تو خود پروردگار وِشوَیشور ہے۔

Word by Word

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Karana (Agent-instrument in passive/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम; तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन

• sṛṣṭāni: created
• sṛṣṭāni: Kriya (Participial predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sṛj (धातु)
• Form: क्त-कृदन्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन; ‘सृष्टानि (भुवनानि)’ = created

• vipra-indra: O best of brāhmaṇas
• vipra-indra: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra (प्रातिपदिक) + indra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन, एकवचन; ‘विप्राणाम् इन्द्रः’ (best of brāhmaṇas)

• bhuvanāni: worlds
• bhuvanāni: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhuvana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• caturdaśa: fourteen
• caturdaśa: Visheshana (Adjectival qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: caturdaśa (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्याविशेषण; नपुंसक-बहुवचन-प्रथमा ‘भुवनानि’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्; चतुर्दश = fourteen

• asyāḥ: of this (city)
• asyāḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन

• puryāḥ: of the city
• puryāḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: purī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन

• vinirmātā: the creator/builder
• vinirmātā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vi + nir + mā (धातु) + tṛ (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: तृन्-कृदन्त (agent noun); पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन

• svayam: himself
• svayam: Visheshana (Emphatic qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svayam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; आत्मार्थक (reflexive/emphatic: oneself)

• viśva-īśvaraḥ: Lord of the universe
• viśva-īśvaraḥ: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśva (प्रातिपदिक) + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘विश्वस्य ईश्वरः’

• prabhuḥ: the Lord
• prabhuḥ: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya; the “by me” may reflect the narrator’s adopted voice in context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Viśveśvara-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Brāhmaṇa interlocutor (‘viprendra’)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic tableau: the fourteen worlds in the background as a subtle mandala, while Viśveśvara stands foreground, ‘architect’ of Kāśī—holding trident, with the city emerging as a sacred diagram around him.

Characters & Entities

• Viśveśvara (Śiva)
• Caturdaśa-bhuvana (fourteen worlds)
• Kāśī (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī’s sanctity is grounded in divine authorship: it is presented as Śiva’s own foundation, not a merely human or cosmic construction.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī/Varanasi, uniquely said to be fashioned by Viśveśvara (Śiva).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual instruction appears; the verse establishes Kāśī’s exceptional origin to intensify devotion and pilgrimage faith.