Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 1
गणावूचतुः । शिवशर्मन्नुदर्कं ते कथयावो निशामय । त्वमत्र वैष्णवे लोके भुक्त्वा भोगान्सुपुष्कलान्
gaṇāvūcatuḥ | śivaśarmannudarkaṃ te kathayāvo niśāmaya | tvamatra vaiṣṇave loke bhuktvā bhogānsupuṣkalān
Para gaṇa berkata: “Wahai Śivaśarman, dengarkan—kami akan menuturkan perjalanan nasibmu kelak. Di sini, di alam Vaiṣṇava, engkau akan menikmati kenikmatan yang berlimpah.”
Gaṇas (attendants) speaking to Śivaśarman
Tirtha: Kāśī (implied as the merit-source)
Type: kshetra
Listener: audience of the māhātmya; within story: Śivaśarman is addressed
Scene: Two gaṇas address Śivaśarman, gesturing toward a luminous gateway to Vaiṣṇava-loka; celestial gardens and apsaras silhouettes hinted beyond, while Kāśī’s ghāṭa/temple architecture anchors the foreground.
FAQs
Merit acquired through dharmic life and sacred association bears fruit beyond death, granting higher worlds and refined enjoyments.
The narrative belongs to the Kāśī-khaṇḍa setting, where Kāśī’s sanctity underwrites the promised spiritual outcomes.
No direct ritual is prescribed here; it introduces a phala (future result) being narrated to Śivaśarman.