Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 7
कथं च भगवान्विष्णुरंतरात्मा जगत्पतिः । सर्वेषां जगतां पाता कर्ता हर्ता च लीलया
kathaṃ ca bhagavānviṣṇuraṃtarātmā jagatpatiḥ | sarveṣāṃ jagatāṃ pātā kartā hartā ca līlayā
وكيف يكون أنَّ الربَّ فيشنو—الذاتَ الباطنةَ وربَّ الكون—حامي العوالم كلِّها، الذي يخلقها ويطويها بلِيلَا (لعبه الإلهي)، قد ارتبطت عظمته بعظمة هذا التيرثا؟
Agastya (continuing his inquiry to Skanda)
Tirtha: Pañcanada-tīrtha (context)
Type: ghat
Listener: Ṣaṇmukha (Skanda) addressed; questioner continues
Scene: A theological tableau: Viṣṇu as cosmic Lord hovering above Kāśī’s riverfront, with subtle imagery of creation and dissolution (lotus, cosmic waters), while the tīrtha below shines as a point of contact between cosmos and city.
FAQs
The Purāṇic vision sees the Supreme as both immanent (antarātman) and sovereign (jagatpati), whose cosmic functions unfold as līlā.
The question is asked in the Pañcanada Tīrtha context, preparing to explain how Viṣṇu’s presence or act elevates that Kāśī tīrtha.
None; it is a doctrinal framing that precedes the tīrtha’s narrative.