Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 57
यद्यद्धितं स्वस्य सदैव तत्तल्लिंगेत्र देयं मम भक्तिमद्भिः । इहाप्यमुत्रापि न तस्य संक्षयो यथेह पापस्य कृतस्य पापिभिः
yadyaddhitaṃ svasya sadaiva tattalliṃgetra deyaṃ mama bhaktimadbhiḥ | ihāpyamutrāpi na tasya saṃkṣayo yatheha pāpasya kṛtasya pāpibhiḥ
Aquello que cada cual tenga por verdaderamente beneficioso para sí, que Mis devotos lo ofrezcan siempre ante este Liṅga. Su mérito no mengua, ni aquí ni en el más allá; así como el pecado cometido por los pecadores no se desvanece sin más en este mundo.
Śiva (contextual, within Kāśīkhaṇḍa instruction)
Tirtha: Ānandavana Liṅga (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Purāṇic audience/interlocutor in Kāśī discourse
Scene: Devotees place their most valued offerings—bilva leaves, water, lamps, cloth, food, coins—before the Liṅga; above, a symbolic ‘akṣaya’ stream of light rises, while on the side a faint shadow of sin’s chain illustrates the analogy of persistence.
FAQs
Offerings made with devotion at the sacred Liṅga yield enduring merit across worlds; karma, whether merit or sin, has lasting consequence.
The Liṅga in Kāśī (within the Ānandavana/Viśveśvara context of this adhyāya).
Dāna/arpana: devotees should offer what they consider most beneficial—wealth, goods, or valued offerings—at the Liṅga in the sacred kṣetra.