Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 96

Devanagari script

अवगंतुं हि शक्येत यूनो वृद्धस्य वा शिशोः । इति श्रुत्वा वचस्तेषां सहजप्रेमनिर्भरम्

Transliteration

avagaṃtuṃ hi śakyeta yūno vṛddhasya vā śiśoḥ | iti śrutvā vacasteṣāṃ sahajapremanirbharam

Translation

此事或可在少年、老者或幼童身上理解。听到他们那充满天生慈爱的言语——

Word by Word

• avagaṃtum: to understand
• avagaṃtum: Karma (Object of possibility/कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ava-√gam (धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्त (infinitive), अवगन्तुम्; अर्थः—‘to understand’

• hi: indeed/for
• hi: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle), हेत्वर्थ/निश्चयार्थक-निपात (for/indeed)

• śakyeta: could be possible
• śakyeta: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śak (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), आत्मनेपद (Ātmanepada); भावे प्रयोगः (impersonal/passive sense): ‘it could be possible’

• yūnaḥ: of a youth
• yūnaḥ: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuvan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), षष्ठी (Genitive, 6th), एकवचन (Singular)

• vṛddhasya: of an old man
• vṛddhasya: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛddha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), षष्ठी (Genitive, 6th), एकवचन (Singular)

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (disjunctive particle)

• śiśoḥ: of a child
• śiśoḥ: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śiśu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), षष्ठी (Genitive, 6th), एकवचन (Singular)

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (Quotation marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (quotative particle)

• śrutvā: having heard
• śrutvā: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकाल-क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śru (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund), परस्मैपदी; ‘having heard’

• vacaḥ: the words/speech
• vacaḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vacas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• teṣām: of them
• teṣām: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), षष्ठी (Genitive, 6th), बहुवचन (Plural); सर्वनाम (pronoun)

• sahaja-prema-nirbharam: full of natural affection
• sahaja-prema-nirbharam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sahaja (प्रातिपदिक) + prema (प्रातिपदिक) + nirbhara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd), एकवचन (Singular); तत्पुरुषः—‘sahajena premṇā nirbharam’ (filled with innate love)

Speaker

Narrator (contextual)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: (contextual interlocutors)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Affectionate elders speak gently, suggesting renunciation is understandable for youth/old age/childhood, while the child listens, poised to answer.

Characters & Entities

• sages
• Dhruva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Spiritual counsel is most effective when joined with compassion; affectionate guidance invites truthful opening of the heart.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

None named; it is a narrative connective verse within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.