Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 18

Devanagari script

एको धर्मप्रदो विष्णुस्त्वेको बह्वर्थदो हरिः । एकः कामप्रदश्चक्री त्वेको मोक्षप्रदोच्युतः

Transliteration

eko dharmaprado viṣṇustveko bahvarthado hariḥ | ekaḥ kāmapradaścakrī tveko mokṣapradocyutaḥ

Translation

唯有毗湿奴赐予正法（dharma）；唯有哈利赐予丰盛福财。唯有执轮之主赐予所愿；唯有不堕者阿周陀（Acyuta）被称为赐解脱（mokṣa）者。

Word by Word

• ekaḥ: one (alone)
• ekaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• dharma-pradaḥ: giver of dharma
• dharma-pradaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dharma (प्रातिपदिक) + prada (कृदन्त; √dā (धा) + प्र-; द-प्रत्यय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (धर्मं प्रददाति इति)

• viṣṇuḥ: Viṣṇu
• viṣṇuḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viṣṇu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• tu: but/indeed
• tu: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle), विरोध/विशेषार्थक

• ekaḥ: one
• ekaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• bahu-artha-daḥ: giver of many benefits/meanings
• bahu-artha-daḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bahu (प्रातिपदिक) + artha (प्रातिपदिक) + da (कृदन्त; √dā (धा) + द-प्रत्यय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (बहून् अर्थान् ददाति)

• hariḥ: Hari
• hariḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hari (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• ekaḥ: one
• ekaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• kāma-pradaḥ: giver of desires
• kāma-pradaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kāma (प्रातिपदिक) + prada (कृदन्त; √dā (धा) + प्र-; द-प्रत्यय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (कामं प्रददाति)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय-बोधक (conjunction)

• cakrī: the discus-bearer
• cakrī: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cakrin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; -इन्-प्रत्ययान्त (चक्रवान्)

• tu: but/indeed
• tu: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle)

• ekaḥ: one
• ekaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• mokṣa-pradaḥ: giver of liberation
• mokṣa-pradaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mokṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + prada (कृदन्त; √dā (धा) + प्र-; द-प्रत्यय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (मोक्षं प्रददाति)

• acyutaḥ: Acyuta (the infallible)
• acyutaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: acyuta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speaker

Vyāsa (deduced from immediate narrative context in the same adhyāya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Naimiṣāraṇya sages

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A didactic tableau: Viṣṇu standing in fourfold radiance, each hand/attribute symbolically linked to dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa; sages in attentive posture in a forest-āśrama setting, with a distant suggestion of Kāśī’s ghāṭs as sacred backdrop.

Characters & Entities

• Viṣṇu
• Hari
• Cakrī (Viṣṇu)
• Acyuta
• Dharma
• Mokṣa

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

All four aims of life (dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa) are unified in the grace of Viṣṇu—encouraging integrated devotion rather than fragmented seeking.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse belongs to the Kāśī-khaṇḍa milieu but does not directly name a Kashi shrine or tirtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

No explicit rite; it functions as a doctrinal mapping of puruṣārthas to devotion toward Viṣṇu.