Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 85
सम्यक्संविद्महे तात धुवस्य न मनीषितम् । पदं परिजिहीर्षुः स कस्यास्मासु महातपाः
samyaksaṃvidmahe tāta dhuvasya na manīṣitam | padaṃ parijihīrṣuḥ sa kasyāsmāsu mahātapāḥ
«لا نفهم على وجه الصواب، أيها السيد الجليل، ما الذي ينويه دْهروفا. ذلك الناسك العظيم كأنه عازم على انتزاع “مقام” (پادا)؛ فمن أيّ واحدٍ منا يريد أن يسلبه؟»
Devas
Listener: Dvija
Scene: Devas, uneasy, ask Brahmā whose ‘station’ Dhruva intends to seize; above them a symbolic celestial wheel shows a bright fixed star at the north, while Brahmā listens with calm discernment.
FAQs
Spiritual striving can surpass worldly rank; those attached to status fear what devotion and tapas can legitimately attain.
Kāśī remains the overarching frame in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, but this line concerns celestial ‘pada’ (status) rather than a pilgrimage location.
No specific rite is prescribed; the verse references tapas as Dhruva’s means and the devas’ concern.