Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 53
भवाय भवनाशाय भूतानांपतये नमः । महादेव नमस्तुभ्यं महेश महसांपते
bhavāya bhavanāśāya bhūtānāṃpataye namaḥ | mahādeva namastubhyaṃ maheśa mahasāṃpate
भव तथा भव-नाशक को, समस्त भूतों के स्वामी को नमस्कार। हे महादेव! आपको नमस्कार; हे महेश, हे तेज और सामर्थ्य के स्वामी—आपको प्रणाम।
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages/pilgrims (frame)
Scene: Śiva as Mahādeva radiates tejas; behind him a wheel of saṃsāra cracks and dissolves; devotees at Kāśī ghāṭa chant ‘Mahādeva’ as light spreads over the city.
FAQs
Śiva is both the Lord of beings and the one who ends saṃsāra—devotion aims at bhava-nāśa (liberation).
Kāśī’s overarching glory is mokṣa: in this kṣetra, Śiva is praised as the destroyer of bhava (saṃsāra).
Stuti and namaskāra (praise and obeisance) to Mahādeva.