Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 37
एतत्सृजामि पाम्यद्मि त्वल्लीलाप्रेरितोंगने । कुतो मां हातुमिच्छेस्त्वं मम वामार्धधारिणि
etatsṛjāmi pāmyadmi tvallīlāpreritoṃgane | kuto māṃ hātumicchestvaṃ mama vāmārdhadhāriṇi
I create this, I preserve it, I consume it—O beloved—impelled by your divine play. How could you wish to leave me, you who abide as my left half?
Śiva
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrim-audience / interlocutor in Kāśī-khaṇḍa frame
Scene: Śiva speaks as cosmic lord yet lover, declaring he creates, protects, and dissolves under Śakti’s līlā; he questions how she could leave when she is his left half—evoking Ardhanārīśvara symbolism.
FAQs
Creation, preservation, and dissolution occur through the inseparable unity of Śiva and Śakti.
The Kāśī Khaṇḍa context frames Kāśī as the sacred land where the Ardhanārīśvara truth is contemplated.
None; it is a metaphysical affirmation supporting Śiva–Śakti worship and contemplation.