Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 85
काशीस्थितैर्यतो दर्शि ध्वजो मेषवृषलांछनः । वृषध्वजेन नाम्नातः स्थास्याम्यत्र पितामहाः
kāśīsthitairyato darśi dhvajo meṣavṛṣalāṃchanaḥ | vṛṣadhvajena nāmnātaḥ sthāsyāmyatra pitāmahāḥ
क्योंकि काशीवासी मेरे ध्वज को मेष और वृषभ-चिह्न से युक्त देखते हैं, इसलिए हे पितामहों! मैं यहाँ ‘वृषध्वज’ नाम से प्रसिद्ध होकर निवास करूँगा।
Vṛṣadhvaja (i.e., Śiva as ‘Bull-bannered’ Lord; self-identification in the verse)
Tirtha: Vṛṣadhvaja-tīrtha
Type: ghat
Listener: Pitṛs (addressed as ‘pitāmahaḥ’)
Scene: On a Kāśī ghat stands a tall banner-staff; the banner bears a ram and a bull insignia. Pilgrims gaze upward; the Lord’s presence is implied as a radiant aura, while pitṛs are invoked in the background.
FAQs
Divine presence becomes locally accessible through name, form, and sign—making Kāśī a living field of darśana.
Vṛṣadhvaja—presented as a named sacred locus/tīrtha within Kāśī connected to Śiva’s emblem.
No direct prescription; it emphasizes darśana (beholding the divine sign) as a devotional act in Kāśī.