Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 46
राजोवाच । यद्यहं पृथिवीनाथः सर्वलोकपितामह । तदादिविष दो देवा दिवि तिष्ठंतु मा भुवि
rājovāca | yadyahaṃ pṛthivīnāthaḥ sarvalokapitāmaha | tadādiviṣa do devā divi tiṣṭhaṃtu mā bhuvi
രാജാവ് പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ സർവ്വലോകപിതാമഹാ, ഞാൻ ഭൂമിയുടെ നാഥനാണെങ്കിൽ, ആദിമുതൽ ദിവിയിൽ വസിക്കുന്ന ദേവന്മാർ സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിൽ തന്നെയിരിക്കട്ടെ; ഭൂമിയിൽ അല്ല.
The King (Divodāsa, contextually)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Brahmā (addressed as Sarvalokapitāmaha)
Scene: The king, firm and composed, petitions Brahmā: devas should remain in heaven, not on earth; the scene contrasts celestial and terrestrial domains symbolically.
FAQs
Kingly responsibility is framed as decisive governance: the ruler seeks an undisturbed realm for protecting subjects, even if that means restraining competing powers.
Kāśī is the implied sacred landscape; the episode underscores Kāśī’s exceptional status where divine and royal claims over space become a theological theme.
No ritual instruction appears; it is a political-theological declaration within the Kāśī Māhātmya.