Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 41
कस्त्वामिह स्तोतुमनंतशक्ते शक्नोति मादृग्लघुबुद्धिवैभवः । प्राचां न वाचामिहगोचरो यः स्तुतिस्त्वयीयं नतिरेव यावत्
kastvāmiha stotumanaṃtaśakte śaknoti mādṛglaghubuddhivaibhavaḥ | prācāṃ na vācāmihagocaro yaḥ stutistvayīyaṃ natireva yāvat
Qui donc ici pourrait Te louer en vérité, ô Puissance infinie, moi dont l’intelligence est si petite ? Tu dépasses la portée des paroles même des sages d’autrefois ; ainsi ma « louange » n’est qu’une inclinaison de révérence.
Unnamed devotee/praiser
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kṣetra (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A devotee in Kāśī stands before Śiva with folded hands, eyes lowered; the city’s ghāṭas and a liṅga-shrine glow softly, emphasizing the inadequacy of words and the sufficiency of bowing.
FAQs
True devotion is marked by humility: recognizing that the Infinite cannot be contained by speech, one offers reverent surrender instead.
The Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame implies Kāśī’s sacred milieu, but the verse itself is a universal statement about Śiva’s transcendence.
No formal rite; it emphasizes namra-bhāva (humble disposition) and namaskāra (reverent bowing).