Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 22

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मांडं किमकांडे वै लयमेष्यति तत्कथम् । परापतंति नाद्यापि पारावारा इतस्ततः

Transliteration

brahmāṃḍaṃ kimakāṃḍe vai layameṣyati tatkatham | parāpataṃti nādyāpi pārāvārā itastataḥ

Translation

“Chẳng lẽ quả trứng vũ trụ—Brahmāṇḍa—lại bất chợt lao vào sự tan rã (pralaya) sao, điều ấy sao có thể? Ngay lúc này các đại dương vẫn dâng trào, va đập khắp bốn bề.”

Word by Word

• ब्रह्माण्डम्: the cosmic egg/universe
• ब्रह्माण्डम्: Karta (Topic/subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + अण्ड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (ब्रह्मणः अण्डम्), नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; अत्र प्रथमा (वाक्यविषयः)

• किम्: why/what (reason)
• किम्: Sambandha (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverbial use: ‘why/how’)

• अकाण्डे: suddenly/at an untimely time
• अकाण्डे: Adhikarana (Circumstance/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अकाण्ड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; ‘at an untimely moment/suddenly’

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (Emphasis/निश्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चयार्थक-निपात (indeed)

• लयम्: dissolution
• लयम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• एष्यति: will go/attain
• एष्यति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: इ (धातु)
• Form: लृट्-लकार (Simple Future), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• तत्: then/therefore
• तत्: Sambandha (Discourse link/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव/निपातवत् प्रयोगः; ‘then/that being so’

• कथम्: how
• कथम्: Sambandha (Interrogative/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम् (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (how)

• परापतन्ति: they fall down/decline
• परापतन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: परा-√पत् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन

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

• अद्यापि: even now/still
• अद्यापि: Adhikarana (Time adverbial/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य (अव्यय) + अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययसमूहः (even today/still now)

• पारावाराः: the far and near shores/banks
• पारावाराः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार (प्रातिपदिक) + अवार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः (पारं च अवारं च), पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; ‘shores (both sides)’

• इतस्: from here
• इतस्: Adhikarana (Directional adverbial/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इतस् (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (from here/this side)

• ततः: from there
• ततः: Adhikarana (Directional adverbial/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (from there/that side)

Speaker

Narrator (collective alarm within Vyāsa’s narration by context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (implied)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Community/elders (implied)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: People debate in terror while vast oceans on all sides heave and crash; the universe imagined as an egg threatened by dissolution.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmāṇḍa (cosmic egg)
• Oceans (pārāvāra)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Cosmic disorder evokes fear of pralaya; dharma’s stability is portrayed as the safeguard of the world.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

No specific tīrtha is named; the verse belongs to the Kāśī-khaṇḍa’s broader sacred narrative.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None in this verse.