Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

अहो मोहस्य माहात्म्यमहो भाग्यविपर्ययः । निर्वाणराशिं यत्काशीं प्राप्य यांत्यन्यतोऽबुधाः

Transliteration

aho mohasya māhātmyamaho bhāgyaviparyayaḥ | nirvāṇarāśiṃ yatkāśīṃ prāpya yāṃtyanyato'budhāḥ

Translation

Ôi, sức mạnh của mê vọng thật lớn lao, và phúc phần sao đảo ngược! Đã đến Kāśī—kho tàng của giải thoát—mà kẻ ngu vẫn còn đi tìm nơi khác.

Word by Word

• अहो: alas!/oh!
• अहो: Avyaya (Interjection/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अहो (अव्यय)
• Form: विस्मयादि-उद्गार (interjection)

• मोहस्य: of delusion
• मोहस्य: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मोह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन (Singular)

• माहात्म्यम्: great power/majesty
• माहात्म्यम्: Karta (Exclamatory subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: माहात्म्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

• अहो: alas!/oh!
• अहो: Avyaya (Interjection/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अहो (अव्यय)
• Form: विस्मयादि-उद्गार (interjection)

• भाग्यविपर्ययः: reversal of fortune
• भाग्यविपर्ययः: Karta (Exclamatory subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भाग्य + विपर्यय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

• निर्वाणराशिम्: the heap/mass of liberation
• निर्वाणराशिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: निर्वाण + राशि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन (Singular)

• यत्: which
• यत्: Karma (Correlative/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन (Singular); सम्बन्धसूचक (relative pronoun)

• काशीम्: Kāśī
• काशीम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन (Singular)

• प्राप्य: having attained
• प्राप्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + आप् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त (gerund/absolutive), “having attained/reached”

• यान्ति: go
• यान्ति: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन (Plural), परस्मैपद

• अन्यतः: elsewhere
• अन्यतः: Apadana (Source sense/अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्यतः (अव्यय)
• Form: तसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (ablatival adverb), “elsewhere/from elsewhere”

• अबुधाः: the ignorant (people)
• अबुधाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अबुध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration, commonly Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A narrator-like voice laments as pilgrims, having reached radiant Kāśī, turn their backs and walk away into dusty roads—liberation glowing behind them like a treasure left unopened.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Moha
• Nirvāṇa (liberation)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Liberation may be near at hand, yet delusion drives people away; wisdom is to recognize and remain aligned with the highest good.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī, explicitly praised as a concentrated source of nirvāṇa (mokṣa).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicit; the stress is on right discernment and valuing Kāśī’s mokṣa-giving presence.