Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 43
कंदुकेश्वर नामापि श्रुत्वा वृजिनसंततिः । क्षिप्रं क्षयमवाप्नोति तमः प्राप्योष्णगुं यथा
kaṃdukeśvara nāmāpi śrutvā vṛjinasaṃtatiḥ | kṣipraṃ kṣayamavāpnoti tamaḥ prāpyoṣṇaguṃ yathā
Even upon merely hearing the name “Kandukeśvara”, the unbroken chain of sin quickly perishes—just as darkness vanishes on reaching heat and light.
Narrative voice (contextually Skanda in Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue)
Tirtha: Kandukeśvara (nāma-māhātmya)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Brāhmaṇa interlocutor
Scene: A listener hears ‘Kandukeśvara’ from a sage; a dark chain symbolizing sin snaps and dissolves as a sunlike warmth and light spreads, echoing the simile of darkness vanishing before heat and radiance.
FAQs
Divine names are purifying in themselves; remembrance and hearing can uproot long-standing sin-impressions.
Kandukeśvara in Kāśī, whose very name is proclaimed as purificatory.
Nāma-śravaṇa—hearing (and by extension repeating) the sacred name Kandukeśvara.