Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 61

Devanagari script

अपि वैकुंठभुवने नेतरस्येह का कथा । इति यावद्गिरींद्रोसौ संभावयति चेतसि

Transliteration

api vaikuṃṭhabhuvane netarasyeha kā kathā | iti yāvadgirīṃdrosau saṃbhāvayati cetasi

Translation

“ویکُنٹھ دھام میں بھی اس جیسا کوئی نہیں—پھر یہاں اور کہیں کی کیا بات؟” یوں پہاڑوں کے رب نے یہ بات دل ہی دل میں سوچتے ہوئے غور کیا۔

Word by Word

• अपि: also; even
• अपि: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle), संभावनार्थ/अपि-समुच्चयार्थ (also/even)

• वैकुण्ठ-भुवने: in the world of Vaikuṇṭha
• वैकुण्ठ-भुवने: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैकुण्ठ (प्रातिपदिक) + भुवन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी विभक्ति (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; वैकुण्ठस्य भुवनम् इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (locative: in Vaikuṇṭha-world)

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

• इतरस्य: of another; else
• इतरस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इतर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; षष्ठी विभक्ति (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; 'अन्यस्य' (of another/else)

• इह: here
• इह: Adhikarana (Locative sense/देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (adverb of place: here)

• का: what (kind of)
• का: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक सर्वनाम (interrogative pronoun)

• कथा: talk; mention; question
• कथा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कथा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (Quotation marker/इति)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उद्धरण/वाक्य-समाप्ति सूचक (quotative particle)

• यावत्: as long as; until
• यावत्: Kala (Temporal/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यावत् (अव्यय/संबन्ध-शब्द)
• Form: अव्यय; कालपरिमाणवाचक (until/so long as)

• गिरि-इन्द्रः: the lord of mountains (Himālaya)
• गिरि-इन्द्रः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरि (प्रातिपदिक) + इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; गिरिणाम् इन्द्रः इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (lord of mountains)

• असौ: that one; he
• असौ: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: असद्/अदस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; दूरवाचक सर्वनाम (demonstrative: that/he)

• संभावयति: considers; reflects upon
• संभावयति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + भू (धातु)
• Form: लट् लकार (Present); परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; causative/denominative sense: 'to consider/esteem/ponder'

• चेतसि: in (his) mind
• चेतसि: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चेतस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी विभक्ति (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narration)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta (implied)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (typical frame; not explicit in this verse)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Himavān, the lord of mountains, pauses in deep inward reflection, weighing the incomparable glory of the sacred realm against even Vaikuṇṭha; the scene is quiet, expansive, and contemplative.

Characters & Entities

• Vaikuṇṭha
• Himavān (Girīndra)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

It asserts the unsurpassed greatness of the supreme sacred reality being contemplated—implying that other celebrated abodes are secondary in comparison.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The context is Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), especially the lord Viśveśvara, whose greatness is implied as beyond even Vaikuṇṭha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse; it is a contemplative statement preparing the narrative.