Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 2
कथं च देवदेवस्य प्रियत्वं समुपेयिवान् । काशीवासिजनीनोभूत्कथं वा दंडनायकः
kathaṃ ca devadevasya priyatvaṃ samupeyivān | kāśīvāsijanīnobhūtkathaṃ vā daṃḍanāyakaḥ
Wie erlangte er die teure Gunst des Gottes der Götter? Und wie wurde er unter den Bewohnern von Kāśī geboren—und wie wurde er wahrlich zum Daṇḍanāyaka, dem Träger von Autorität und Strafe?
Agastya (questioning Skanda, implied by context)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Agastya (Kumbha-sambhava)
Scene: A questioning sage addresses the divine narrator about a kṣetra-protector: how he gained Śiva’s favor, became a Kāśī-resident, and attained the office of Daṇḍanāyaka.
FAQs
Divine favor and spiritual status are portrayed as attainable through dharma and the sanctifying power of connection to Kāśī.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), celebrated as a supremely meritorious sacred abode (sthāna) whose residents are specially sanctified.
No explicit rite is prescribed in this verse; it introduces an inquiry into the causes of merit, Kāśī-vāsa, and divine favor.