Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 85
काशीस्थितैर्यतो दर्शि ध्वजो मेषवृषलांछनः । वृषध्वजेन नाम्नातः स्थास्याम्यत्र पितामहाः
kāśīsthitairyato darśi dhvajo meṣavṛṣalāṃchanaḥ | vṛṣadhvajena nāmnātaḥ sthāsyāmyatra pitāmahāḥ
ಕಾಶಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಸಿಸುವವರು ನನ್ನ ಧ್ವಜದಲ್ಲಿ ಮೇಷ ಮತ್ತು ವೃಷಭ ಚಿಹ್ನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಕಾಣುತ್ತಾರೆ; ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ, ಓ ಪಿತಾಮಹರೇ, ನಾನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ‘ವೃಷಧ್ವಜ’ ಎಂಬ ನಾಮದಿಂದ ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧನಾಗಿ ವಾಸಿಸುವೆನು।
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.