Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 32

Devanagari script

सामोद धूपदानैश्च दिव्यगंधाश्रयो भवेत् । घृतदीपप्रबोधैश्च ज्योतीरूप विमानगः

Transliteration

sāmoda dhūpadānaiśca divyagaṃdhāśrayo bhavet | ghṛtadīpaprabodhaiśca jyotīrūpa vimānagaḥ

Translation

خوشبودار دھوپ کے دان سے وہ الٰہی خوشبو کا حامل بنتا ہے؛ اور گھی کے دیے روشن کرنے سے نورانی صورت پاتا اور روشن وِمان میں سوار ہو کر گमन کرتا ہے۔

Word by Word

• sa-āmoda: fragrant
• sa-āmoda: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sa (सह, उपसर्ग/पूर्वपद) + āmoda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन (धूपदानैः इति सह); कर्मधारय-समासः: ‘with fragrance/pleasant scent’

• dhūpa-dānaiḥ: with incense-offerings
• dhūpa-dānaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhūpa (प्रातिपदिक) + dāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः: ‘with offerings of incense’

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (च)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय-बोधक (conjunction)

• divya-gandha-āśrayaḥ: a possessor/abode of divine fragrance
• divya-gandha-āśrayaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: divya (प्रातिपदिक) + gandha (प्रातिपदिक) + āśraya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः: ‘one who has/attains the support of divine fragrance’

• bhavet: would become
• bhavet: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (भू, भवने)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• ghṛta-dīpa-prabodhaiḥ: with the lighting of ghee lamps
• ghṛta-dīpa-prabodhaiḥ: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ghṛta (प्रातिपदिक) + dīpa (प्रातिपदिक) + prabodha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः: ‘with the kindling/lighting of ghee-lamps’

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (च)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय-बोधक (conjunction)

• jyotī-rūpaḥ: of luminous form
• jyotī-rūpaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jyotis (ज्योतिस्) + rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समासः; विशेषणम् (विमानगः): ‘having the form of light’

• vimāna-gaḥ: one who rides a celestial car
• vimāna-gaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vimāna (प्रातिपदिक) + ga (ग, √gam/गम्, गत्यर्थ; क्त/प्रत्ययान्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः: ‘one who goes in a vimāna (celestial car)’

Speaker

Śiva (closing the sequence of worship-acts and their fruits in Adhyāya 49)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī Liṅga (Liṅgarāja)

Type: temple

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Amarāḥ (devas/immortals)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Devotees offer curling incense smoke and rows of ghee lamps before the liṅga; the worshipper is envisioned becoming radiant, ascending in a luminous vimāna through a sky suffused with fragrance and light.

Characters & Entities

• Dhūpa (incense)
• Ghṛta-dīpa (ghee lamp)
• Vimāna (celestial car)
• Liṅga (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Devotional offerings refine the devotee’s destiny: fragrance symbolizes purity and attraction to the divine, while lamp-light symbolizes ascent into spiritual radiance.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī, where even simple upacāras like incense and lamps are depicted as yielding exalted, heaven-like fruits.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Dhūpa-dāna (offering incense) and ghṛta-dīpa-prabodha/dīpa-dāna (lighting ghee lamps) as acts of Liṅga worship.