Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 78

Devanagari script

महतो नियमस्यास्य भवतानुष्ठितस्य वै । नार्हंति षोडशी मात्रामप्यन्ये नियमा यमाः

Transliteration

mahato niyamasyāsya bhavatānuṣṭhitasya vai | nārhaṃti ṣoḍaśī mātrāmapyanye niyamā yamāḥ

Translation

آپ کے ادا کیے ہوئے اس عظیم نِیَم کے مقابلے میں دوسرے یَم اور نِیَم سولہویں حصے کے برابر بھی نہیں ٹھہرتے۔

Word by Word

• mahataḥ: of the great
• mahataḥ: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन — Genitive singular (of the great)

• niyamasya: of the observance
• niyamasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: niyama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन — Genitive singular

• asya: of this
• asya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन — Pronoun: of this

• bhavatā: by you
• bhavatā: Karana (Agent-instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhavat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन — Instrumental singular (by you, sir)

• anuṣṭhitasya: performed, observed
• anuṣṭhitasya: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: anu√sthā (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त), पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन — Past participle in genitive: of (that which is) performed

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय — निपात (emphatic: indeed)

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय — निषेध (negation)

• arhanti: are worthy (of)
• arhanti: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √arh (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन — are worthy/are able to match

• ṣoḍaśīm: sixteenth
• ṣoḍaśīm: Visheshana (Numeral modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣoḍaśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — Accusative singular (sixteenth)

• mātrām: a measure, a fraction
• mātrām: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mātrā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन — Accusative singular (measure/portion)

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (Particle/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय — निपात (even)

• anye: other
• anye: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन — Nominative plural (others)

• niyamāḥ: observances
• niyamāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: niyama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन — Nominative plural

• yamāḥ: restraints
• yamāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन — Nominative plural

Speaker

Śiva (Īśvara)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-Avimukta (niyama-mahātmyam)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (typical)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A symbolic scale: one side holds many ‘yama-niyama’ scrolls; the other holds a single Kāśī-niyama vow, outweighing them—set against a Viśvanātha shrine.

Characters & Entities

• Śiva
• Jaigīṣavya
• Yama
• Niyama

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotion-centered discipline is portrayed as surpassing many formal ethical and ascetic practices when it directly anchors life in God-remembrance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī’s devotional ethos is reinforced—where Śiva-centered living is presented as the highest rule.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse extols the previously stated niyama (eating only after Śiva-darśana/after worship) as superior to other disciplines.