Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 7

Devanagari script

महाशयनसुप्तानां जंतूनां प्रतिबोधकम् । संसारसागरावर्त पतज्जंतुतरंडकम्

Transliteration

mahāśayanasuptānāṃ jaṃtūnāṃ pratibodhakam | saṃsārasāgarāvarta patajjaṃtutaraṃḍakam

Translation

یہ مہا شَیَن پر سوئے ہوئے جانداروں کو بیدار کرتا ہے؛ یہ سنسار کے سمندر کے بھنوروں میں گرتے ہوئے مخلوقات کے لیے زندگی کی کشتی ہے۔

Word by Word

• mahā-śayana-suptānām: of those asleep on the great bed
• mahā-śayana-suptānām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + śayana (प्रातिपदिक) + supta (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th case), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष (महाशयने सुप्तानाम्)

• jantūnām: of creatures
• jantūnām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jantu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th case), बहुवचन

• prati-bodhakam: awakening; that which rouses
• prati-bodhakam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prati (उपसर्ग) + budh (धातु)
• Form: ण्वुल्-प्रत्ययान्त (बोधक), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; उपसर्ग: प्रति-

• saṃsāra-sāgara-āvarta: the whirlpool of the ocean of worldly existence
• saṃsāra-sāgara-āvarta: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃsāra (प्रातिपदिक) + sāgara (प्रातिपदिक) + āvarta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd case), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (संसाररूपस्य सागरस्य आवर्तः)

• pataৎ-jantu-taraṇḍakam: a rescuer of falling beings
• pataৎ-jantu-taraṇḍakam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: patat (कृदन्त) + jantu (प्रातिपदिक) + taraṇḍaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (पततां जन्तूनां तरण्डकम् = रक्षक/उद्धारक)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (as tāraṇa-tīrtha)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic ocean of saṃsāra with whirlpools swallowing beings; a luminous raft labeled Kāśī carries them toward a shore where a temple spire and liṅga glow; sleepers on a vast bed awaken as light touches their eyes.

Characters & Entities

• Saṃsāra-sāgara (ocean of worldly existence)
• Kāśī-kṣetra (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

The holy kṣetra functions as awakening wisdom and as a saving means to cross saṃsāra—spiritual geography becomes a vehicle of liberation.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), implicitly praised as the liberating raft for embodied beings.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse teaches by metaphor—awakening and deliverance are attributed to the kṣetra’s sanctity.