Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 36
त्वत्तो जगत्त्वं जगदेवसाक्षाज्जगत्त्वदीयं जगदेकबंधो । हर्ताविता त्वं प्रथमो विधाता विधातृविष्ण्वीश नमो नमस्ते
tvatto jagattvaṃ jagadevasākṣājjagattvadīyaṃ jagadekabaṃdho | hartāvitā tvaṃ prathamo vidhātā vidhātṛviṣṇvīśa namo namaste
منك تنبثق حقيقة العالم ذاتها؛ بل أنت الشاهد الظاهر للكون. هذا الكون لك، يا وحيد القريب لكل الخليقة. أنت المُقَدِّر الأول، وأنت أيضًا المُهلك والحامي. يا ربّ، يا مصدر براهما وفيشنو، لك السجود، لك السجود.
Unnamed devotee/praiser (contextually within Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration; immediately before Skanda’s speech at 42)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī / Viśveśvara-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A devotee in Kāśī offers folded hands before Viśveśvara-liṅga; behind the liṅga, a cosmic vision shows the universe arising and dissolving within Śiva, with Brahmā and Viṣṇu as emanated powers.
FAQs
Śiva is praised as the ultimate source, witness, and governor of creation—devotion rests on recognizing his all-encompassing lordship.
The setting is the Kāśīkhaṇḍa (Vārāṇasī/Kāśī), though this verse focuses on universal Śiva-stuti rather than naming a single tīrtha.
No specific rite is prescribed here; it is a theological praise (stuti) establishing Śiva’s supremacy.