Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 93

Devanagari script

अन्नक्षयो वा सर्वस्यां नगर्यामभवत्क्षणात् । राजदंडोथ युगपज्जातः सर्वपुरौकसाम्

Transliteration

annakṣayo vā sarvasyāṃ nagaryāmabhavatkṣaṇāt | rājadaṃḍotha yugapajjātaḥ sarvapuraukasām

Translation

“شاید ایک لمحے میں پوری بستی میں اناج کی کمی ہو گئی ہو؛ یا پھر ایک ہی وقت میں تمام شہر والوں پر شاہی سزا نازل ہو گئی ہو۔”

Word by Word

• anna-kṣayaḥ: depletion of food
• anna-kṣayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anna (प्रातिपदिक) + kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (annasya kṣayaḥ); पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Alternative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक-अव्यय (or)

• sarvasyām: in the entire
• sarvasyām: Adhikarana (Location qualifier/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन; विशेषण (in the whole)

• nagaryām: in the city
• nagaryām: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nagarī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन

• abhavat: occurred, happened
• abhavat: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (अनद्यतनभूत/Imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• kṣaṇāt: in a moment
• kṣaṇāt: Apadana (Source/time-from/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (अपादान), एकवचन; कालवाचक (within/from a moment)

• rāja-daṇḍaḥ: king’s punishment
• rāja-daṇḍaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāja (प्रातिपदिक) + daṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (rājñaḥ daṇḍaḥ); पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• atha: then
• atha: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अनन्तरार्थक-अव्यय (then/and then)

• yugapat: simultaneously
• yugapat: Kāla-adhikarana (Time adverb/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yugapat (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (simultaneously)

• jātaḥ: arose
• jātaḥ: Kriya (Predicative occurrence/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jan (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle used predicatively); पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (having arisen)

• sarva-puraukasām: of all the city-dwellers
• sarva-puraukasām: Sambandha (Genitive: of/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + pura-okas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष-समास (sarve puraukasāḥ); षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन; 'पुरौकस्' = नगरनिवासी

Speaker

Vyāsa (speculating on causes)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (frame assumed; not explicit in excerpt)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Vyāsa enumerates possible causes: sudden citywide food scarcity or simultaneous royal crackdown; the backdrop shows anxious townspeople, shuttered homes, and a tense marketplace near the ghāṭa.

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• Kāśī (nagari)
• rājadaṇḍa (royal authority)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Material conditions and governance affect dharmic practices like giving; dharma is lived within society.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī is the city referenced; its civic life is part of the Kāśī-māhātmya portrayal.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse lists possible worldly causes for the absence of bhikṣā.