Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 25
अपि जन्मसहस्रस्य पापं क्षयति तत्क्षणात् । पार्वतीशस्य माहात्म्यं यः श्रोष्यति नरोत्तमः । ऐहिकामुष्मिकान्कामान्स प्राप्स्यति महामतिः
api janmasahasrasya pāpaṃ kṣayati tatkṣaṇāt | pārvatīśasya māhātmyaṃ yaḥ śroṣyati narottamaḥ | aihikāmuṣmikānkāmānsa prāpsyati mahāmatiḥ
Even the sin amassed over a thousand births is destroyed in an instant. The best of men who listens to the greatness of Pārvatīśa (Śiva)—that wise one attains desires pertaining both to this world and the next.
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa context typically Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Pārvatīśa-māhātmya (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Assembly seeking tīrtha-phala
Scene: A learned reciter narrates Pārvatīśa’s greatness to an attentive assembly; above them, dark karmic smoke dissolves into light, while two paths appear: prosperity in life and a radiant ascent beyond death.
FAQs
Śravaṇa of tīrtha-and-deity māhātmya is itself a dharmic practice that purifies deeply and aligns life toward auspicious aims.
Kāśī, through the narrated glory (māhātmya) of Pārvatīśa and his liṅga worship.
Māhātmya-śravaṇa—listening to the sacred account of Pārvatīśa’s greatness.