Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 20

Devanagari script

स्वयं सिंचति या मद्भिः स्वाभिः स्वर्गतरंगिणी । यत्रानंदमया वृक्षा यत्रानंदमया जनाः

Transliteration

svayaṃ siṃcati yā madbhiḥ svābhiḥ svargataraṃgiṇī | yatrānaṃdamayā vṛkṣā yatrānaṃdamayā janāḥ

Translation

وہاں جنت کی طرح بہنے والی ندی اپنے ہی دھندلے بادلوں کی پھوار سے خود ہی زمین کو سیراب کرتی ہے؛ جہاں درخت سراسر آنند ہیں اور جہاں لوگ بھی سراسر آنند ہیں۔

Word by Word

• svayam: by oneself
• svayam: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svayam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (क्रियाविशेषण/adverb)

• siṃcati: sprinkles, waters
• siṃcati: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sic (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular)

• yā: which (she)
• yā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन (singular)

• madbhiḥ: with/by me (my waters)
• madbhiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (m./n. pronoun), तृतीया (3rd case), बहुवचन (plural)

• svābhiḥ: with her own
• svābhiḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sva (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), तृतीया (3rd case), बहुवचन (plural); विशेषण (qualifying)

• svarga-taraṃgiṇī: the heaven-streaming river (Ganges)
• svarga-taraṃgiṇī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarga (प्रातिपदिक) + taraṃgiṇī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन (singular)

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक/locative adverb)

• ānaṃda-mayāḥ: made of bliss, blissful
• ānaṃda-mayāḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ānanda (प्रातिपदिक) + maya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन (plural); विशेषण

• vṛkṣāḥ: trees
• vṛkṣāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛkṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन (plural)

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (देशवाचक/locative adverb)

• ānaṃda-mayāḥ: blissful
• ānaṃda-mayāḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ānanda (प्रातिपदिक) + maya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन (plural); विशेषण

• janāḥ: people
• janāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), प्रथमा (1st case), बहुवचन (plural)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa context: Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Ānandavana/Avimukta) with Gaṅgā

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A luminous Gaṅgā in Kāśī, veiled in self-born mist-clouds that water the ghāṭs and gardens; trees radiate ānanda as if made of light; the whole kṣetra appears heaven-descended.

Characters & Entities

• Ānandavāṭikā (implied)
• Kāśī (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī is depicted as intrinsically blissful—nature and inhabitants reflect a divine, uplifted state.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The bliss-region associated with Ānandavāṭikā within Kāśī’s sacred landscape.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit ritual; it is a descriptive mahātmya of the sacred environment.