Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 46
प्रोषितस्य परितोपि लक्षणैर्नीचवर्त्मपरिवर्तिनोपि वा । चंद्रमौलिमवलोक्य यास्यतः कस्य सिद्धिरिह नो परिस्फुरेत्
proṣitasya paritopi lakṣaṇairnīcavartmaparivartinopi vā | caṃdramaulimavalokya yāsyataḥ kasya siddhiriha no parisphuret
حتى من طال غيابه، أو من انحرف إلى طريقٍ دنيء، إذا مضى بعد أن نظر إلى ربّ ذي الهلال على الجبين (شيفا)، فمَن ذا الذي لا تتلألأ له السِّدهي في هذا العالم؟
Narrator (within Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s storytelling frame)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kṣetra (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (frame)
Scene: A weary pilgrim—long absent or morally fallen—stands at Kāśī’s sacred precinct, eyes lifted to the Moon-crested Śiva; the moment of darśana makes inner radiance ‘shine forth’.
FAQs
Śiva’s darśana—especially in Kāśī—has transformative power, awakening siddhi even in those burdened by faults or wrong paths.
Kāśī, through the implied darśana of its Moon-crested Lord, Viśvanātha.
Darśana (beholding) of Śiva as a spiritually efficacious act.