Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 19

Devanagari script

तत्यजे यैरियं काशी महाशीर्वादभूभिका । तेषां करतलान्मुक्तिः प्राप्तापि परितो गता

Transliteration

tatyaje yairiyaṃ kāśī mahāśīrvādabhūbhikā | teṣāṃ karatalānmuktiḥ prāptāpi parito gatā

Translation

Những ai đã bỏ rơi Kāśī này—mảnh đất của đại phúc lành—thì từ chính lòng bàn tay họ, giải thoát dẫu đã nắm được cũng tuột mất về mọi phía.

Word by Word

• तत्यजे: (they) abandoned
• तत्यजे: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद; (अत्र) “has been abandoned/was abandoned”

• यैः: by whom
• यैः: Karana (Agent-instrumental/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन (Plural); सम्बन्धसूचक (relative pronoun)

• इयम्: this
• इयम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

• काशी: Kāśī
• काशी: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

• महाशीर्वादभूभिका: (the) great blessing-ground (source of great blessings)
• महाशीर्वादभूभिका: Karta (Predicate/appositional noun/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मह + आशीर्वाद + भूभिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular); “महान् आशीर्वादः (यस्याः सा)” भावे कर्मधारय-प्रायः

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन (Plural)

• करतलात्: from the palm (of the hand)
• करतलात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: करतल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन (Singular)

• मुक्तिः: liberation
• मुक्तिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुक्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

• प्राप्ता: attained
• प्राप्ता: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + आप् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

• अपि: even though
• अपि: Avyaya (Particle/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), “even/though”

• परितः: away, all around
• परितः: Kriya-viseshana (Adverb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: परितः (अव्यय)
• Form: उपसर्गार्थक-अव्यय/क्रियाविशेषण (adverb), “around/away”

• गता: went away
• गता: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular)

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 symbolic image: a radiant jewel labeled ‘mukti’ rests on an open palm, but as the person turns away from Kāśī’s blessed ground, the jewel slips and scatters like light in the wind.

Characters & Entities

• Kāśī
• Mukti (liberation)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Spiritual opportunity must be held with steadiness; abandoning a mokṣa-field like Kāśī is portrayed as letting liberation slip from one’s grasp.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī, praised as a land that itself embodies great benedictions.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; it is an exhortation not to forsake Kāśī and the path to mukti it represents.