Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31
वेदा विदंति न यथार्थतया भवंतं ब्रह्मादयोपि न चराचर सूत्रधार । त्वं हंसि पासि विदधासि समस्तमेकः कस्तेस्तुतिव्यतिकरो मनसाप्यगम्य
vedā vidaṃti na yathārthatayā bhavaṃtaṃ brahmādayopi na carācara sūtradhāra | tvaṃ haṃsi pāsi vidadhāsi samastamekaḥ kastestutivyatikaro manasāpyagamya
Nicht einmal die Veden erkennen Dich in Deiner vollen Wahrheit; auch Brahmā und die übrigen Götter erkennen Dich nicht, o unsichtbarer Lenker, der Bewegtes und Unbewegtes zusammenhält. Du allein vernichtest, beschützt und ordnest das ganze Universum. Wer könnte Dir ein angemessenes Lob darbringen—Dir, der du selbst dem Geist unerreichbar bist?
Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa context) speaking to Agastya
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (Viśveśvara sphere)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Implied deity addressed (Supreme Lord in Kāśī context)
Scene: A devotee in Kāśī offers a hymn before an unseen, all-pervading Lord; behind, the cosmos is shown as a woven tapestry—moving and unmoving beings held by an invisible ‘sūtradhāra’. Brahmā and devas stand with bowed heads, Vedas personified as unable to fully encompass the deity.
FAQs
Śiva, the inner ruler of all beings, transcends even Vedic and mental comprehension; devotion recognizes His supreme, all-encompassing sovereignty.
The verse occurs within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī Māhātmya framework, implicitly praising Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as the supreme Śaiva sacred geography where Śiva’s greatness is celebrated.
No direct prescription (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) appears in this verse; it functions as a theological stuti emphasizing Śiva’s transcendence and cosmic lordship.