Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 18
पृथिव्यावरणांभांसि निष्क्रांतानि तदा मुने । भूप्रमाणाद्दशगुणैर्यैरियं वसुधावृता
pṛthivyāvaraṇāṃbhāṃsi niṣkrāṃtāni tadā mune | bhūpramāṇāddaśaguṇairyairiyaṃ vasudhāvṛtā
അപ്പോൾ, ഹേ മുനേ, ഭൂമിയെ ആവരണം ചെയ്തിരുന്ന ആ ജലങ്ങൾ പുറത്ത് പൊട്ടിപ്പുറപ്പെട്ടു—ഈ വസുധയെ മൂടിയിരിക്കുന്ന അവ ഭൂമിയുടെ അളവിനെക്കാൾ പത്തിരട്ടിയായിരുന്നു.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kuṇḍa of earth-encircling waters (name not given in verse)
Type: kund
Listener: A sage addressed as ‘muni’
Scene: From the newly opened basin, immense subterranean waters surge outward with roaring force, suggesting a vast hidden ocean beneath the earth; sages look on in astonishment as the kuṇḍa fills rapidly.
FAQs
Kāśī’s sacred rites are linked to cosmic order—purification is not merely local but participates in universal sanctity.
Kāśī’s divine water-source/kuṇḍa, presented as drawing from primordial, world-encircling waters.
No direct injunction; it provides the sacred origin of the waters used for bathing and worship.