Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

पुरुषोत्तम पापारे पुंडरीकविलोचन । पीतकौशेयवसन पद्मनाभ परात्पर

Transliteration

puruṣottama pāpāre puṃḍarīkavilocana | pītakauśeyavasana padmanābha parātpara

Translation

噢，至上之人（Puruṣottama），罪恶之敌；噢，莲眼者；披着黄色丝衣者；噢，莲脐者（Padmanābha），超越至上的至上者！

Word by Word

• puruṣottama: O best of persons (Supreme Person)
• puruṣottama: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puruṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (पुरुषाणां उत्तमः)

• pāpāre: O enemy of sin
• pāpāre: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + ari (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (पापस्य अरिः)

• puṃḍarīkavilocana: O lotus-eyed one
• puṃḍarīkavilocana: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puṃḍarīka (प्रातिपदिक) + vilocana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समासः (पुण्डरीक-सदृशं विलोचनं यस्य)

• pītakauśeyavasana: O wearer of yellow silk garments
• pītakauśeyavasana: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pīta (प्रातिपदिक) + kauśeya (प्रातिपदिक) + vasana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समासः (पीतं कौशेयं वसनं यस्य)

• padmanābha: O lotus-naveled one
• padmanābha: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: padma (प्रातिपदिक) + nābha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (पद्मस्य नाभिः/नाभौ पद्मं यस्य)

• parātpara: O one beyond the beyond (supremely transcendent)
• parātpara: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parāt (अव्यय/उपसर्गवत्) + para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (परात् परः)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (with Gaṅgā as the living tīrtha)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A devotee in Kāśī offers folded hands while envisioning Viṣṇu as lotus-eyed, clad in yellow silk, with the navel-lotus; the Gaṅgā and temple lamps glow in the background.

Characters & Entities

• Viṣṇu
• Puruṣottama
• Padmanābha

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Remembering and praising Viṣṇu by His epithets is presented as a direct antidote to sin and spiritual forgetfulness.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The broader context is Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, where divine names and devotion are celebrated as especially meritorious.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

This verse itself is a stotra-style invocation; it implies nāma-smaraṇa/japa (repetition of divine names) rather than prescribing a specific external rite.