Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 72
यथात्मविद्या विद्यानां स्त्रीणां गौरी यथोत्तमा । सर्वर्दवेगणानां च यथा त्वं पुरुषोत्तम
yathātmavidyā vidyānāṃ strīṇāṃ gaurī yathottamā | sarvardavegaṇānāṃ ca yathā tvaṃ puruṣottama
വിദ്യകളിൽ ആത്മവിദ്യ എങ്ങനെ പരമമോ, സ്ത്രീകളിൽ ഗൗരീ എങ്ങനെ ശ്രേഷ്ഠയോ; അതുപോലെ, ഹേ പുരുഷോത്തമാ, സർവ്വ ദേവഗണങ്ങളിൽ നീ തന്നെ പരമൻ—അതിനാൽ ഈ സ്തുത്യ തത്ത്വവും സರ್ವോന്നതം.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī (implied) / Gaṅgā-tīrtha (contextual lead-in)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Primary interlocutor of Kāśīkhaṇḍa (traditionally a rishi/assembly; chapter-context dependent)
Scene: A hymn-like tableau: personified Vidyā as a radiant ascetic insight (ātma-vidyā), Gaurī enthroned as the foremost śakti, and Puruṣottama presiding over divine hosts—an allegorical triad culminating in the implied supremacy of the sacred reality being praised.
FAQs
The text ranks spiritual excellences (self-knowledge, divine archetypes) to underscore the unsurpassed greatness of the praised sacred domain.
By the surrounding Gaṅgā-māhātmya context, the superiority being established pertains to Gaṅgā and her tīrtha-status in Kāśī.
No direct prescription; it is a doctrinal praise using theological exemplars.