Shloka 1
The Description of Kāśī (Kāśī-māhātmya): Avimukta, Kapālamocana, and Śiva’s Purification
काष्ठीलोवाच । एवं सा राक्षसी सुभ्रु हस्तिनीरूपधारिणी । त्रिभिर्मुहूर्तैः संप्राप्ता काशीं विश्वेशमंदिरम् ॥ १ ॥
kāṣṭhīlovāca | evaṃ sā rākṣasī subhru hastinīrūpadhāriṇī | tribhirmuhūrtaiḥ saṃprāptā kāśīṃ viśveśamaṃdiram || 1 ||
കാഷ്ഠീലൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഇങ്ങനെ സുന്ദരഭ്രൂയായ ആ രാക്ഷസി പെൺആനയുടെ രൂപം ധരിച്ചു മൂന്നു മുഹൂർത്തങ്ങൾക്കുള്ളിൽ കാശിയിലെ വിശ്വേശമന്ദിരത്തിലെത്തി।
Kāṣṭhīla
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: bhakti
FAQs
It frames Kāśī and the Viśveśa temple as the narrative’s sacred focal point, emphasizing the magnetic sanctity of the tīrtha where major karmic and spiritual turning points occur.
By directing the story toward Viśveśa in Kāśī, it highlights temple-centric devotion—approaching the deity’s abode as a concrete act of bhakti that shapes the unfolding of the episode.
The verse uses the time-measure “muhūrta,” a calendrical/ritual timing concept aligned with Jyotiṣa (Vedāṅga), indicating precise traditional reckoning of time in sacred narratives.