Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 54

Devanagari script

विवासिताः स्वविषयात्तेन सन्मतिदायिनः । धर्माधिकारिणः शूद्रा ब्राह्मणाः करदीकृताः

Transliteration

vivāsitāḥ svaviṣayāttena sanmatidāyinaḥ | dharmādhikāriṇaḥ śūdrā brāhmaṇāḥ karadīkṛtāḥ

Translation

他将赐予善谋的贤臣逐出其本土疆域；又令首陀罗执掌宗教权柄之裁断，并使婆罗门沦为纳贡之民。

Word by Word

• vivāsitāḥ: banished, exiled
• vivāsitāḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म) / Predicative adjective
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi-√vas (धातु) + vivāsita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त/क्तवतु-प्रायः), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; past passive participle ‘banished/exiled’

• sva-viṣayāt: from (their) own domain
• sva-viṣayāt: Apadana (Ablative source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva (प्रातिपदिक) + viṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी/सम्बन्ध: ‘स्वस्य विषयः’), पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचन; ablative ‘from (their) own territory’

• tena: by him; by that
• tena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, तृतीया (3rd/करण), एकवचन, पुं/नपुंसक; instrumental ‘by him/thereby’

• san-mati-dāyinaḥ: givers of good counsel
• san-mati-dāyinaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता) / Predicative adjective
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sat (प्रातिपदिक) + mati (प्रातिपदिक) + dāyin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (‘सन्मतिं ददाति’), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; adjective ‘givers of good counsel/approval’

• dharma-adhikāriṇaḥ: having authority in dharma
• dharma-adhikāriṇaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता) / Predicative adjective
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dharma (प्रातिपदिक) + adhikārin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (‘धर्मे अधिकारः यस्य’), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; ‘entitled/authorized in dharma’

• śūdrāḥ: Śūdras
• śūdrāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śūdra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; nominative plural

• brāhmaṇāḥ: Brāhmaṇas
• brāhmaṇāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; nominative plural

• kara-dīkṛtāḥ: made tributary; reduced to paying tax
• kara-dīkṛtāḥ: Karma (Object/कर्म) / Predicative adjective
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kara (प्रातिपदिक) + √kṛ (धातु) + dīkṛta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (‘करं दीकृतः/करदीकृतः’ = ‘made into tax-payers/tributary’), भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A dark court scene: a tyrannical ruler on a high throne; wise ministers and counselors being driven out; brāhmaṇas forced to pay tribute; social order visibly inverted, with anxious citizens and ominous sky tones.

Characters & Entities

• Brāhmaṇas
• Śūdras

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

When rulers overturn dharma and dishonor the wise and the Brāhmaṇas, society falls into disorder and spiritual decline.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The wider narrative belongs to Kāśī-Māhātmya (Kāśī/Varanasi), setting the moral background for the king’s later encounter with the sacred forest of Kāśī.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No direct rite is prescribed in this verse; it establishes adharma as the cause leading toward later sacred intervention in Kāśī.