Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 54

Devanagari script

वाच्यवाचकसंबंधो गायत्र्याः सवितुर्द्वयोः । वाच्योसौ सविता साक्षाद्गायत्रीवाचिकापरा

Transliteration

vācyavācakasaṃbaṃdho gāyatryāḥ saviturdvayoḥ | vācyosau savitā sākṣādgāyatrīvācikāparā

Translation

گایتری اور سَوِتْر کے درمیان ‘واچْی’ اور ‘واچَک’ کا رشتہ ہے۔ واچْی تو خود سَوِتْر ساکشات ہے؛ اور گایتری اعلیٰ ترین واچِکا، یعنی برتر اظہار ہے۔

Word by Word

• vācya-vācaka-saṃbandhaḥ: the relation of denoted and denoter
• vācya-vācaka-saṃbandhaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vācya + vācaka + saṃbandha (वाच्य + वाचक + सम्बन्ध; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; द्वन्द्व-समास (वाच्यश्च वाचकश्च तयोः सम्बन्धः)

• gāyatryāḥ: of Gāyatrī
• gāyatryāḥ: Sambandha (genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gāyatrī (गायत्री; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन

• savituḥ: of Savitṛ (the Sun)
• savituḥ: Sambandha (genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: savitṛ (सवितृ; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन

• dvayoḥ: of the two
• dvayoḥ: Sambandha (genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvi (द्वि; संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/सम्बन्ध), द्विवचन; numeral 'of the two'

• vācyaḥ: the denoted (meaning)
• vācyaḥ: Karta (Subject/identificand)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vācya (वाच्य; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण used substantively: 'the denoted'

• asau: that (he)
• asau: Karta (Subject/apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adas (अदस्; सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; demonstrative pronoun

• savitā: Savitṛ
• savitā: Samānādhikaraṇa (apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: savitṛ (सवितृ; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• sākṣāt: directly
• sākṣāt: Kriya-vishesana (adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sākṣāt (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb): 'directly/in person'

• gāyatrī-vācikā: denoting through Gāyatrī
• gāyatrī-vācikā: Visheshana (predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: gāyatrī + vācikā (गायत्री + वाचिका; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (गायत्र्या वाचिका = denoter by Gāyatrī)

• aparā: the other (i.e., the denoter)
• aparā: Visheshana (predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aparā (अपर; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण (predicate): 'other/second'

Speaker

Skanda

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A conceptual scene: the mantra ‘Gāyatrī’ appears as a luminous script-stream (vācaka) flowing into a radiant solar deity Savitṛ (vācya). A meditator sits between sound-waves and sun-rays, showing the bridge from word to meaning.

Characters & Entities

• Gāyatrī
• Savitṛ (Sūrya)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Mantra and deity are inseparable: Gāyatrī is the sacred utterance, and Savitṛ is the divine reality it reveals.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Within Kāśī-khaṇḍa, this doctrinal point supports Kāśī’s reputation as a foremost seat of mantra, worship, and liberation.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

It undergirds Gāyatrī-japa as direct worship of Savitṛ, by asserting the mantra-deity identity through vācya-vācaka relation.