Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 60
यस्याक्षिपक्ष्मसंकोचाज्जगत्संकोचमेत्यदः । विकस्वरं विकासाच्च कस्य पूज्यतमो न सः
yasyākṣipakṣmasaṃkocājjagatsaṃkocametyadaḥ | vikasvaraṃ vikāsācca kasya pūjyatamo na saḥ
By the closing of whose eyelids this world contracts, and by their opening it expands and blossoms—who would not hold him as the most worthy of worship?
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (Viśveśvara/Śiva as cosmic lord context)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A cosmic Śiva whose half-closed eyes cause the universe to fold inward; when eyes open, lotuses bloom and worlds expand—depicted as concentric realms emanating from his gaze.
FAQs
Śiva is the cosmic lord whose will governs the universe’s contraction and expansion; therefore devotion to him is the highest reverence.
Kāśī is the implied sacred setting of this teaching within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s praise of Śiva-worship.
No specific rite is named here; the verse supports the theological basis for pūjā—Śiva is ‘pūjyatama’ (most worship-worthy).