Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 27
ईश्वर उवाच । अयि काशीत्यष्टमूर्तिर्भवो भावाष्टकोभवत् । सत्वरं शिवयाज्ञायि ध्रुवं काश्याहृतोहरः
īśvara uvāca | ayi kāśītyaṣṭamūrtirbhavo bhāvāṣṭakobhavat | satvaraṃ śivayājñāyi dhruvaṃ kāśyāhṛtoharaḥ
ঈশ্বৰে ক’লে: “হে শিৱয়া! ‘কাশী!’ এই উচ্চাৰণ মাত্ৰ উঠিলেই ভৱ (শিৱ) অষ্টমূৰ্তি হয়, অস্তিত্বৰ অষ্টবিধ অৱস্থাৰূপে প্ৰকাশ পায়। সেয়ে, হে শিৱতত্ত্ব-জ্ঞা, হৰ নিশ্চয়েই তৎক্ষণাৎ কাশীৰ ফালে আকৃষ্ট হয়।”
Śiva (Īśvara)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and other ṛṣis (frame, implied)
Scene: Śiva speaks with authority; the word ‘Kāśī’ appears as luminous syllables; around him, eightfold cosmic aspects subtly radiate—elements, luminaries, directions—signaling aṣṭamūrti awakening.
FAQs
The very name of Kāśī is spiritually potent; remembrance of Kāśī aligns one with Śiva’s cosmic presence (aṣṭamūrti).
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), portrayed as uniquely magnetic to Śiva and thus supremely sanctifying.
Implicitly, nāma-smaraṇa (remembrance/utterance of ‘Kāśī’) is praised as spiritually efficacious.