Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31
नानारूपोप्यरूपो यः सर्वगोपि न गोचरः । अनंतोप्यंतक वपुः सर्ववित्कर्मवर्जितः
nānārūpopyarūpo yaḥ sarvagopi na gocaraḥ | anaṃtopyaṃtaka vapuḥ sarvavitkarmavarjitaḥ
多くの姿に現れながら真には無相、遍満しながら感官の対象とならず、無限でありつつ終わらせる者の姿を取り、全知でありながら業に触れぬ——かくのごときが主である。
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A contemplative vision of the Supreme Śiva: simultaneously dissolving into formless radiance and emerging in subtle outlines, suggesting all-pervasion and transcendence; a pilgrim-sage in Kāśī meditates on the ineffable Lord.
FAQs
Śiva is simultaneously beyond form and yet compassionately approachable; He is omniscient and all-pervading, but never bound by karma.
The teaching belongs to the Kāśī Khaṇḍa framework, where Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) is upheld as the supreme setting for realizing Śiva’s transcendence.
No explicit ritual is prescribed here; the verse is primarily a theological description of Śiva-tattva.