Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 56
येस्मिञ्जनाः कृत्रिमभावबुद्ध्या लिंगं भजिष्यंति च हेतुवादैः । तेषां हि दंडः पर एष एव नगर्भवासाद्विरमंति ते ध्रुवम्
yesmiñjanāḥ kṛtrimabhāvabuddhyā liṃgaṃ bhajiṣyaṃti ca hetuvādaiḥ | teṣāṃ hi daṃḍaḥ para eṣa eva nagarbhavāsādviramaṃti te dhruvam
Die Menschen, die den Liṅga mit künstlich gemachter Gesinnung und mit streitender Vernunftlehre verehren wollen — dies allein ist ihre höchste Strafe: Gewiss hören sie nicht auf, im Schoß (im Kreislauf der Wiedergeburten) zu verweilen.
Śiva (contextual, within Kāśīkhaṇḍa instruction)
Tirtha: Ānandavana Liṅga (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Purāṇic interlocutor/audience of Kāśī-māhātmya
Scene: A devotee stands before the Liṅga with a divided expression—outwardly offering, inwardly calculating—while shadowy forms of the womb-cycle (embryo imagery, turning wheel of saṃsāra) loom behind, contrasted with a serene, luminous path reserved for the sincere.
FAQs
Worship without authentic inner devotion becomes spiritually fruitless; insincerity sustains bondage and repeated birth.
The teaching is set within Kāśī’s Liṅga-māhātmya context, addressing proper attitude toward the sacred Liṅga there.
An implicit prescription: perform Liṅga worship with genuine bhāva, not as a mere outward act supported by hollow disputation.