Kapalamochana — Shiva Purana 3.9.58-59
The skull that would not fall anywhere else falls at Kashi, and the sin that followed him everywhere ends there.
Shiva Purana, Shatarudra Samhita 3.9.58-59edition
Sanskrit · संस्कृत
Read in another script
Meaning
The skull of the creator, unbearable beyond measure, did not release his hand as the supreme one wandered anywhere at all — yet at Kashi it fell from him in an instant. And the brahmin-slaying that never left the trident-bearer anywhere was destroyed at Kashi in a moment. Therefore Kashi is to be resorted to.
This rendering is by a DharmSetu editor, not a quotation from a published translation. Compare with the public-domain translation.
A Hindi meaning has not been written for this mantra yet. Hindi is authored by a named editor rather than machine-translated, so it arrives more slowly.
How to recite
- Repetitions
- 1 · 3
- Time
- brahma muhurta
Pronunciation key — sounds commonly got wrong
- ट ठ ड ढ ण · ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ
- Retroflex — the tongue curls back and touches the roof of the mouth. Distinct from the dental त थ द ध न, where the tongue touches the teeth.
- श ष स · ś ṣ s
- Three different sounds: ś as in “shy”, ṣ retroflex and further back, s plain. Collapsing them changes words.
- ः · ḥ (visarga)
- A soft outward breath echoing the preceding vowel — not a hard “ha”.
- ं · ṃ (anusvara)
- Nasalises the vowel; the closing sound follows the consonant that comes next.
- Long vs short vowels — a / ā, i / ī, u / ū
- Vowel length is meaningful in Sanskrit. Hold the macron vowels roughly twice as long.
- Aspirated consonants — kh, gh, ch, th, dh, ph, bh
- A distinct puff of breath. ph is an aspirated p, never an English “f”.
Word by word
- विधेःvidheḥ
- of the creator (Brahma)(gen. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.967
- कपालम्kapālam
- skull(nom. sg. n.)MW1899-CDSL p.250
- अमुञ्चत्amuñcat
- released, let go(3rd sg. impf.)MW1899-CDSL p.820
- अत्यन्तदुःसहम्atyantaduḥsaham
- unbearable beyond measure(nom. sg. n.)
- भ्रमतःbhramataḥ
- of the one wandering(pres. part. gen. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.769
- क्षणतःkṣaṇataḥ
- in a moment(abl. adv.)MW1899-CDSL p.324
- अपतत्apatat
- it fell
Context
Shadanga — the six limbs
The traditional analytic frame for a mantra. Blank limbs are simply not recorded for this text.
- chhanda
- anushtubh
- devata
- Kala Bhairava
Recited at / traditionally recited for
Classified as Pauranic — From the Puranas. Most widely recited deity mantras belong here. Basis for this classification.
Related mantras
Gayatri Mantra
The most widely recited Vedic verse, addressed to the light of the sun — Rigveda 3.62.10.
Mahamrityunjaya Mantra
The Tryambaka verse of the Rigveda, addressed to Rudra — a prayer for release, likening it to a ripe fruit loosening from its stem.
Asato Ma Sad Gamaya
Three movements — from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to what does not die. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28.