Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 3
तेन दैलीपिना सार्धमस्मिन्नानंदकानने । क्षेत्रप्रभावमतुलं ज्ञात्वा शंभुपरिग्रहात्
tena dailīpinā sārdhamasminnānaṃdakānane | kṣetraprabhāvamatulaṃ jñātvā śaṃbhuparigrahāt
«ومع ذلك الديليپينا، في هذا الأنانداكانانا، غابة النعيم، وبعد أن أدركوا الأثر الذي لا يُضاهى لقداسة هذا الحقل—لأنه في حيازة شَمبهو (شيفا) وتحت كنفه…»
Skanda
Tirtha: Ānandakānana (within Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Muni (unnamed)
Scene: A sacred forest-grove by the Gaṅgā: sages with matted hair, a companion named Dailīpina, and a luminous sense of Śiva’s invisible presence pervading the grove; subtle liṅga forms in nature (tree-trunks/rocks).
FAQs
A place becomes supremely salvific when it is Śiva’s own kṣetra—its power is rooted in divine guardianship, not mere geography.
Ānandakānana within Kāśī, representing the sanctified landscape of the Kāśī-kṣetra.
No direct rite is prescribed; the verse establishes theological basis for later acts like liṅga-pratiṣṭhā and worship.