Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 26
तापनेःसुतपो वह्निज्वालाप्रज्वलितैनसः । संवीक्ष्य त्र्यक्ष साक्षात्त्वां कृतकृत्या बभूविम
tāpaneḥsutapo vahnijvālāprajvalitainasaḥ | saṃvīkṣya tryakṣa sākṣāttvāṃ kṛtakṛtyā babhūvima
अग्नि-ज्वालाओं-से दहकते पापों से संतप्त होकर हमने कठोर तप किया। हे त्र्यक्ष! आपको साक्षात् देखकर हम कृतकृत्य हो गए—हमारा प्रयोजन सिद्ध हुआ।
Pilgrims/supplicants (addressing Śiva in Kāśī; contextually within Skanda’s narration to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Śiva-sākṣāt-darśana context)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Devotees appear singed by metaphorical flames—dark smoke-like aura of sin dissipating—while Śiva, three-eyed, manifests in luminous form; the fire imagery transforms into a cool, clear radiance as they become ‘kṛtakṛtya’.
FAQs
When sin is purified through tapas and grace, direct vision of Śiva grants completion—spiritual life reaches its intended goal.
Within Kāśī-māhātmya, the stress is on Śiva’s immediate accessibility in Kāśī through darśana (implicitly linked with Dharmēśvara in the preceding verse).
Tapas (austerity) is referenced as a purifying discipline leading to Śiva-darśana.