Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 96
अरुद्ररुद्राक्षफणींद्रभूषणास्त्रिपुंड्रचंद्रार्धधराधरागताः । निरंतरं काशिनिवासिनोजना गिरींद्रजे पारिषदा मता मम
arudrarudrākṣaphaṇīṃdrabhūṣaṇāstripuṃḍracaṃdrārdhadharādharāgatāḥ | niraṃtaraṃ kāśinivāsinojanā girīṃdraje pāriṣadā matā mama
O daughter of the Lord of Mountains, those who dwell unceasingly in Kāśī—adorned with Rudrākṣa beads and ornaments of the serpent-king, marked with the three sacred ash-lines and bearing the crescent moon—are, in my view, to be regarded as Śiva’s own attendants (pāriṣadas).
Śiva (deduced from address to Girīndrajā/Pārvatī and Śaiva insignia context)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Girijā/Pārvatī
Scene: Kāśī residents as radiant Śaiva devotees: rudrākṣa garlands, tripuṇḍra ash-lines, crescent-moon emblems, serpent ornaments—standing like Śiva’s gaṇas around a liṅga in the city’s sacred lanes.
FAQs
Unbroken devotion expressed through life in Kāśī and Śaiva conduct (rudrākṣa, tripuṇḍra, Śiva-identification) elevates an ordinary person to the status of Śiva’s own attendant.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), praised as a supreme Śaiva sacred geography where continuous residence itself is a mark of divine proximity.
No specific dāna/snānā/japa is prescribed in this verse; it emphasizes Śaiva identifiers and steadfast residence in Kāśī as the defining observance.