Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 46

Devanagari script

यावन्नहि जराक्रांतिर्यावन्नेंद्रियवैक्लवम् । तावत्सर्वं फल्गुरूपं हित्वा काशीं श्रयेत्सुधीः

Transliteration

yāvannahi jarākrāṃtiryāvanneṃdriyavaiklavam | tāvatsarvaṃ phalgurūpaṃ hitvā kāśīṃ śrayetsudhīḥ

Translation

جب تک بڑھاپا غالب نہ آئے اور جب تک حواس کمزور نہ ہوں، تب تک دانا آدمی کو چاہیے کہ ہر حقیر و فانی شے چھوڑ کر کاشی میں پناہ لے۔

Word by Word

• yāvat: as long as
• yāvat: Sambandha (Temporal relation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; यावत्-सम्बन्धबोधक (as long as/while)

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध-निपात (negation)

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (Emphasis/Reason)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधान/हेतु-निपात (indeed/for)

• jarākrāntiḥ: the onset/attack of old age
• jarākrāntiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jarā (प्रातिपदिक) + krānti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (jarāyāḥ krāntiḥ = ‘advance/attack of old age’)

• yāvat: as long as
• yāvat: Sambandha (Temporal relation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; यावत् (as long as)

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध-निपात

• indriyavaiklavam: weakness of the senses
• indriyavaiklavam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: indriya (प्रातिपदिक) + vaiklava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (indriyāṇāṃ vaiklavam = ‘weakness of the senses’)

• tāvat: until then
• tāvat: Sambandha (Correlative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; तावत् (until then/so long)

• sarvam: everything
• sarvam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• phalgurūpam: insubstantial/trifling
• phalgurūpam: Karma-viśeṣaṇa (Object qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: phalgu (प्रातिपदिक) + rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मधारय (phalguṃ rūpam = ‘trifling/insubstantial in nature’)

• hitvā: having abandoned
• hitvā: Kriya (Prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √hā (धातु: हा)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive): “having abandoned”

• kāśīm: Kashi (Vārāṇasī)
• kāśīm: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• śrayet: should resort to
• śrayet: Kriya (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śri (धातु: श्रि)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• sudhīḥ: the wise person
• sudhīḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: su-dhī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मधारय (सु + धी = ‘good/intelligent-minded’)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa typically Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Agastya (contextually, as addressed in adjacent verse)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A resolute pilgrim turning away from worldly bustle (markets, entertainments) and walking toward Kāśī’s ghāṭs with a water-pot and rudrākṣa, while faint silhouettes of old age and failing senses loom behind as a warning.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Vārāṇasī

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Act while strength and clarity remain; renounce the trivial and orient life toward liberation through sacred refuge.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) is explicitly praised as a refuge to be sought by the wise.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The practical prescription is Kāśī-śaraṇāgati/Kāśī-vāsa (seeking refuge/residing in Kāśī), rather than a specific yajña or vrata.