Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 1
अथ श्रीकाशीखंडोत्तरार्धं प्रारभ्यते । श्रीगणेशाय नमः । अगस्तिरुवाच । पार्वती हृदयानंद सर्वज्ञांगभव प्रभो । किंचित्प्रष्टुमनाः स्वामिंस्तद्भवान्वक्तुमर्हति
atha śrīkāśīkhaṃḍottarārdhaṃ prārabhyate | śrīgaṇeśāya namaḥ | agastiruvāca | pārvatī hṛdayānaṃda sarvajñāṃgabhava prabho | kiṃcitpraṣṭumanāḥ svāmiṃstadbhavānvaktumarhati
હવે શ્રીકાશીખંડનો ઉત્તરાર્ધ આરંભ થાય છે. શ્રીગણેશાય નમઃ. અગસ્ત્ય બોલ્યા—હે પ્રભો! પાર્વતીના હૃદયનો આનંદ, હે સર્વજ્ઞ, હે અંગભવ (સ્કંદ)! હું કંઈક પૂછવા ઇચ્છું છું; કૃપા કરીને તમે તે કહો।
Agastya
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (as the overarching subject of the uttarārdha)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Skanda (Aṅgabhava)
Scene: Opening folio moment: Gaṇeśa invoked at the top; sage Agastya seated with folded hands, addressing Skanda (Aṅgabhava), who is depicted as youthful, radiant, and all-knowing; Pārvatī implied as the ‘heart’s delight’ reference.
FAQs
Sacred teaching is approached through humility, invocation (Gaṇeśa-vandana), and a guru-disciple style dialogue.
No single tīrtha is named yet; the frame announces the Uttarārdha of the Kāśī Khaṇḍa, devoted to Kāśī’s greatness.
An auspicious invocation—salutation to Gaṇeśa—is included as a traditional beginning practice.