Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 39
हर उवाच । चतुर्विधा भजंते मां जनाः सुकृतिनः सदा । आर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च द्विजसत्तम
hara uvāca | caturvidhā bhajaṃte māṃ janāḥ sukṛtinaḥ sadā | ārto jijñāsurarthārthī jñānī ca dvijasattama
Hara dit : Ô le meilleur des deux-fois-nés, les hommes de mérite m’adorent toujours de quatre manières : l’affligé, le chercheur de connaissance, le quêteur de biens mondains, et le connaisseur de la vérité.
Śiva (Hara/Rudra)
Tirtha: Kedāra/Kedāranātha
Type: kshetra
Listener: Dvijasattama (addressed brāhmaṇa; within Dakṣa-Lomaśa frame)
Scene: Rudra addresses a learned brāhmaṇa (dvijasattama) with calm authority; four archetypal devotees are symbolically shown—one suffering, one studying, one seeking wealth, one serene in wisdom—arrayed around the shrine.
FAQs
Devotion arises from different human needs, but all can become a doorway to the Lord—especially when it matures into true understanding.
The teaching occurs within Kedārakhaṇḍa’s Kedāra milieu, where pilgrimage and worship are framed as paths culminating in higher realization.
No specific rite is mandated; the verse classifies motivations behind worship (bhajana).