Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 20
कैवल्यं यत्परं ब्रह्म निराकारमगोचरम् । तं पुं मूर्त्या परिणतं भक्तानां भक्तिहेतुतः
kaivalyaṃ yatparaṃ brahma nirākāramagocaram | taṃ puṃ mūrtyā pariṇataṃ bhaktānāṃ bhaktihetutaḥ
Jenes höchste Brahman—die Befreiung selbst—gestaltlos und den Sinnen unzugänglich: eben diese Wirklichkeit nimmt für die Bhaktas eine verkörperte Gestalt an, als Ursache und Stütze ihrer Bhakti.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A metaphysical tableau: the formless Brahman suggested as vast luminous space, from which the Lord’s compassionate embodied form emerges, facing devotees; the contrast between nirākāra radiance and saguṇa icon is central.
FAQs
The transcendent, formless Absolute compassionately becomes approachable through form, so devotion can arise and mature into liberation.
No single site is named; the verse provides a theological summit within the Kāśī tīrtha narrative context.
No explicit prescription; the verse legitimizes mūrti-upāsanā (worship/meditation on divine form) as a valid path for devotees.