Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 41
स्कन्दसरः (Skandasara) — तीर्थवर्णनम् / Description of the Skandasara Sacred Lake
काले कलौ च विषयैः कलुषायमाणे वाराणसीपरिसरे वसतिं विनेतुः । अथ च ते पशुपाशमुमुक्षयाखिलतया कृतपाशुपतव्रताः
kāle kalau ca viṣayaiḥ kaluṣāyamāṇe vārāṇasīparisare vasatiṃ vinetuḥ | atha ca te paśupāśamumukṣayākhilatayā kṛtapāśupatavratāḥ
কলিযুগৰ সময়ত, বিষয়বস্তুৰ প্ৰভাৱত জীৱসকল কলুষিত হ’বলৈ ধৰাত, তেওঁলোকে বাৰাণসীৰ পৰিসৰত বাসস্থান বাছি ল’লে। তাৰ পাছত পশু (জীৱ)ক বাঁধি থোৱা পাশৰ পৰা সম্পূৰ্ণ মুক্তি বিচাৰি তেওঁলোকে সম্পূৰ্ণ ৰূপে পাশুপত-ব্ৰত পালন কৰিলে।
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Paśupatinātha
Jyotirlinga: Viśvanātha
Sthala Purana: Vārāṇasī is Śiva’s avimukta-kṣetra where liberation is specially accessible; in Kali’s defilement, seekers choose Kāśī’s environs and adopt Pāśupata discipline to cut paśu–pāśa bondage under Viśvanātha’s guardianship.
Significance: Residence/sojourn near Kāśī and Śiva-upāsanā are portrayed as antidotes to Kali’s viṣaya-kaluṣa; supports the ideal of mumukṣutva (desire for release) and vrata-based purification.
Role: teaching
Cosmic Event: Kali-yuga (moral/spiritual decline through viṣaya-kaluṣa)
FAQs
It teaches that in Kali-yuga, when sense-enjoyments easily pollute the mind, the seeker should turn to Shiva-centered discipline; by adopting the Pāśupata path one aims at liberation from pāśa (bondage) and realization of Pati (Lord Shiva) as the true refuge.
Vārāṇasī is upheld as a foremost Shaiva kṣetra where Saguna worship—especially Linga-upāsanā—supports inner purification; through vows and worship, devotion matures into knowledge that Shiva alone is the liberating Lord beyond bondage.
The verse points to undertaking Pāśupata-vrata—Shaiva observances emphasizing restraint from sense-objects, disciplined worship of Shiva (often with mantra-japa such as the Panchakshara), and a life oriented to renunciation and liberation.