Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 35

Devanagari script

स्वविष्ठापायिनी चाथ वल्गुली वृक्षलंबिनी । उलूकी वा दिवांधा स्याद्वृक्षकोटरवासिनी

Transliteration

svaviṣṭhāpāyinī cātha valgulī vṛkṣalaṃbinī | ulūkī vā divāṃdhā syādvṛkṣakoṭaravāsinī

Translation

پھر وہ اپنی ہی گندگی کھانے والی بن جاتی ہے؛ یا درختوں سے لٹکنے والی چمگادڑ؛ یا دن کی اندھی اُلو، جو درختوں کے کھوکھل میں بسیرا کرتی ہے۔

Word by Word

• स्व-विष्ठा-पायिनी: one who drinks her own excrement
• स्व-विष्ठा-पायिनी: Karta/Phala (Resultant state)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + विष्ठा (प्रातिपदिक) + पायिनी (प्रातिपदिक; √पा/पि ‘to drink’ से ‘drinker’)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Feminine, Nominative, Singular) — विधेय-नाम (predicate noun)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• अथ: then
• अथ: Sambandha (Sequence)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle/adverb) — अनन्तरार्थ/प्रसङ्ग (then/next)

• वल्गुली: a kind of small animal (valgulī)
• वल्गुली: Karma/Phala (Result/फल)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वल्गुली (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Feminine, Nominative, Singular) — विधेय-नाम

• वृक्ष-लंबिनी: one hanging from a tree
• वृक्ष-लंबिनी: Karma/Phala (Result/फल)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + लंबिनी (प्रातिपदिक; √लम्ब्)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Feminine, Nominative, Singular) — विधेय-नाम

• उलूकी: a female owl
• उलूकी: Karma/Phala (Result/फल)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उलूकी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Feminine, Nominative, Singular) — विधेय-नाम

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (Alternative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पबोधक-अव्यय (disjunctive particle)

• दिवा-अंधा: blind by day
• दिवा-अंधा: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दिवा (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक) + अंध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Feminine, Nominative, Singular); विशेषणम् (qualifier, implied predicate)

• स्यात्: would become
• स्यात्: Kriya (Result/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन (3rd person, Singular)

• वृक्ष-कोटर-वासिनी: one dwelling in a tree-hollow
• वृक्ष-कोटर-वासिनी: Karma/Phala (Result/फल)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + कोटर (प्रातिपदिक) + वासिनी (प्रातिपदिक; √वस्)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Feminine, Nominative, Singular) — विधेय-नाम

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (contextual)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A sequence of metamorphoses: a figure reduced to feeding on her own filth; then a bat hanging from a tree; then an owl, day-blind, living in a tree hollow—each as emblem of moral inversion.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sin is portrayed as dragging consciousness into increasingly impure and fearful forms of existence, urging self-restraint and dharma.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tirtha is mentioned; this is a general karmic warning within the Kāśī Khaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it continues the description of karmic results.