Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 5
तदौत्सुक्येन स मुनिः प्रेर्यमाण उवाच ह । नारद उवाच । देवदेव तव क्रीडाखिलं ब्रह्मांडगोलकम् । मासा द्वादश ये नाथ ते सारिफलके गृहाः
tadautsukyena sa muniḥ preryamāṇa uvāca ha | nārada uvāca | devadeva tava krīḍākhilaṃ brahmāṃḍagolakam | māsā dvādaśa ye nātha te sāriphalake gṛhāḥ
Poussé par l’ardeur de savoir, le sage prit la parole. Nārada dit : Ô Dieu des dieux, toute cette sphère cosmique n’est que ton jeu sacré. Ô Seigneur, les douze mois sont comme les cases du plateau dans cette divine partie.
Nārada
Tirtha: Kailāsa (teaching through līlā)
Type: peak
Listener: Agastya
Scene: Nārada, moved by curiosity, addresses Śiva: the whole cosmic sphere is your game; the twelve months are like the board’s compartments/houses in this play.
FAQs
Cosmic time (months and cycles) is portrayed as part of the Lord’s līlā, inviting a devotional, non-anxious vision of existence.
The teaching is delivered in the Kailāsa setting; the Kāśīkhaṇḍa uses such episodes to deepen reverence for Śiva’s sovereignty central to Kāśī’s glory.
None directly; it provides cosmological symbolism rather than a rite.