Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 89

Devanagari script

मया सृष्टानि विप्रेंद्र भुवनानि चतुर्दश । अस्याः पुर्या विनिर्माता स्वयं विश्वेश्वरः प्रभुः

Transliteration

mayā sṛṣṭāni vipreṃdra bhuvanāni caturdaśa | asyāḥ puryā vinirmātā svayaṃ viśveśvaraḥ prabhuḥ

Translation

婆罗门中之最胜者啊，我曾创造十四世界；然而此城的建造者，却是主宰毗湿维湿瓦罗（Viśveśvara）亲自所为。

Word by Word

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Karana (Agent-instrument in passive/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम; तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन

• sṛṣṭāni: created
• sṛṣṭāni: Kriya (Participial predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sṛj (धातु)
• Form: क्त-कृदन्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन; ‘सृष्टानि (भुवनानि)’ = created

• vipra-indra: O best of brāhmaṇas
• vipra-indra: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra (प्रातिपदिक) + indra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन, एकवचन; ‘विप्राणाम् इन्द्रः’ (best of brāhmaṇas)

• bhuvanāni: worlds
• bhuvanāni: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhuvana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• caturdaśa: fourteen
• caturdaśa: Visheshana (Adjectival qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: caturdaśa (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्याविशेषण; नपुंसक-बहुवचन-प्रथमा ‘भुवनानि’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्; चतुर्दश = fourteen

• asyāḥ: of this (city)
• asyāḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन

• puryāḥ: of the city
• puryāḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: purī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन

• vinirmātā: the creator/builder
• vinirmātā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vi + nir + mā (धातु) + tṛ (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: तृन्-कृदन्त (agent noun); पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन

• svayam: himself
• svayam: Visheshana (Emphatic qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svayam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; आत्मार्थक (reflexive/emphatic: oneself)

• viśva-īśvaraḥ: Lord of the universe
• viśva-īśvaraḥ: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśva (प्रातिपदिक) + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘विश्वस्य ईश्वरः’

• prabhuḥ: the Lord
• prabhuḥ: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya; the “by me” may reflect the narrator’s adopted voice in context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Viśveśvara-kṣetra)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Brāhmaṇa interlocutor (‘viprendra’)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A cosmic tableau: the fourteen worlds in the background as a subtle mandala, while Viśveśvara stands foreground, ‘architect’ of Kāśī—holding trident, with the city emerging as a sacred diagram around him.

Characters & Entities

• Viśveśvara (Śiva)
• Caturdaśa-bhuvana (fourteen worlds)
• Kāśī (implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Kāśī’s sanctity is grounded in divine authorship: it is presented as Śiva’s own foundation, not a merely human or cosmic construction.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Kāśī/Varanasi, uniquely said to be fashioned by Viśveśvara (Śiva).

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No ritual instruction appears; the verse establishes Kāśī’s exceptional origin to intensify devotion and pilgrimage faith.