Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 61

Devanagari script

विद्वद्भिश्च तपोनिष्ठास्तपोनिष्ठैर्जितेंद्रियाः । जितेंद्रियैर्ज्ञाननिष्ठा ज्ञानिभिः शिवयोगिनः

Transliteration

vidvadbhiśca taponiṣṭhāstaponiṣṭhairjiteṃdriyāḥ | jiteṃdriyairjñānaniṣṭhā jñānibhiḥ śivayoginaḥ

Translation

اہلِ علم، اہلِ تپسیا کو سہارا دیتے ہیں؛ تپسوی، حواس پر غالب آنے والوں کو سنبھالتے ہیں؛ حواس کے فاتح، علم میں ثابت قدموں کو تھامتے ہیں؛ اور عارفان، شیو کے یوگیوں کی نگہبانی کرتے ہیں۔

Word by Word

• विद्वद्भिः: by/with the learned
• विद्वद्भिः: Karaṇa/Hetu (Instrument/Agentive means)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विद्वस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental/3rd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Conjunction)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (conjunction)

• तपोनिष्ठाः: those devoted to austerity
• तपोनिष्ठाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् + निष्ठा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)

• तपोनिष्ठैः: by/with the austerity-devoted
• तपोनिष्ठैः: Karaṇa/Hetu (Instrument/Association)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् + निष्ठा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental/3rd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• जितेन्द्रियाः: those who have conquered the senses
• जितेन्द्रियाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जित + इन्द्रिय (प्रातिपदिक; कृदन्त-विशेषण)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural); 'जित' = क्त (past passive participle) used adjectivally

• जितेन्द्रियैः: by/with the sense-conquerors
• जितेन्द्रियैः: Karaṇa/Hetu (Instrument/Association)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जित + इन्द्रिय (प्रातिपदिक; कृदन्त-विशेषण)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental/3rd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• ज्ञाननिष्ठाः: those devoted to knowledge
• ज्ञाननिष्ठाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ज्ञान + निष्ठा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)

• ज्ञानिभिः: by/with the knowers (jnānins)
• ज्ञानिभिः: Karaṇa/Hetu (Instrument/Association)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ज्ञानिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), तृतीया (Instrumental/3rd), बहुवचन (Plural)

• शिवयोगिनः: Śiva-yogins (yogins of Śiva)
• शिवयोगिनः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिव + योगिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A four-tier tableau in Kāśī: scholars teaching; ascetics practicing tapas; disciplined practitioners restraining senses; contemplatives in meditation; culminating in Śiva-yogins absorbed before a liṅga or within a cremation-ground-like serenity.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Spiritual life is a continuum: learning supports austerity, austerity supports self-mastery, self-mastery supports knowledge, and knowledge culminates in Śiva-yoga.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is implied as a living ecosystem of seekers—scholars, ascetics, the self-controlled, knowers, and Śiva-yogins.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No single ritual; it prescribes disciplines—tapas, indriya-jaya (sense-control), jñāna-niṣṭhā, and Śiva-yoga.