Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

त्रिविक्रमत्रिलोकीश चक्रपाणे चतुर्भुज । इत्यादीनि पवित्राणि नामानि प्रतिमंदिरम्

Transliteration

trivikramatrilokīśa cakrapāṇe caturbhuja | ityādīni pavitrāṇi nāmāni pratimaṃdiram

Translation

“三步者（Trivikrama）”“三界之主”“持轮者”“四臂者”——如此等清净圣名，在每一座寺庙中皆可见闻。

Word by Word

• त्रिविक्रमत्रिलोकीश: O Trivikrama and Trilokīśa
• त्रिविक्रमत्रिलोकीश: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रिविक्रम (प्रातिपदिक) + त्रिलोकीश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; द्वन्द्वसमासः (समाहार/समुच्चयार्थ)

• चक्रपाणे: O Cakrapāṇi (one who holds the discus)
• चक्रपाणे: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चक्रपाणि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (चक्रस्य पाणिः)

• चतुर्भुज: O four-armed one
• चतुर्भुज: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चतुर्भुज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; द्विगु/तत्पुरुषसमासः (चत्वारः भुजाः यस्य)

• इति: thus
• इति: Discourse marker (इति-निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; इत्यर्थसूचक-निपातः (quotative particle)

• आदीनि: and others (beginning with these)
• आदीनि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (…and so on)

• पवित्राणि: holy, purifying
• पवित्राणि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पवित्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; विशेषणम्

• नामानि: names
• नामानि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नामन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• प्रति: in each, per
• प्रति: Adverbial (अव्ययार्थ)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्रति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपसर्ग/पूर्वसर्गार्थे अव्ययम् (preposition: per/towards)

• मन्दिरम्: temple
• मन्दिरम्: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्दिर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2/द्वितीया), एकवचन; अव्ययीभावार्थे (प्रति + मन्दिरम् = प्रतिमन्दिरम्)

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (temple network within the city)

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A pilgrim walks through Kāśī’s lanes where every small shrine bears inscriptions or spoken invocations—Trivikrama, Trilokīśa, Cakrapāṇi, Caturbhuja—echoing from doorways and temple thresholds.

Characters & Entities

• Viṣṇu
• Trivikrama
• Cakrapāṇi

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Sacred names are portrayed as universally purifying—present across temples and accessible to all devotees.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The teaching is generalized to ‘every temple,’ while the narrative home remains Kāśī in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Implied is temple-based nāma-smaraṇa and stuti—reciting the Lord’s epithets in sacred spaces.