Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 1
अगस्त्य उवाच । दृष्ट्वा काशीं दृगानंदां तारकारे पुरारिणा । किमकारि समाचक्ष्व प्राप्तां बहुमनोरथैः
agastya uvāca | dṛṣṭvā kāśīṃ dṛgānaṃdāṃ tārakāre purāriṇā | kimakāri samācakṣva prāptāṃ bahumanorathaiḥ
അഗസ്ത്യൻ പറഞ്ഞു—താരകാരയിൽ ത്രിപുരാരി (ശിവൻ) കണ്ണുകൾക്ക് ആനന്ദം നൽകുന്ന കാശിയെ ദർശിച്ച ശേഷം, അനേകം ആഗ്രഹങ്ങൾക്കു ശേഷം അവളെ പ്രാപിച്ചപ്പോൾ എന്തു ചെയ്തു? എന്നോട് പറയുക।
Agastya
Tirtha: Kāśī (with Tārakāra-sthāna)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Skanda
Scene: Agastya, staff in hand, stands at a vantage point overlooking Kāśī’s ghāṭs; Śiva as Tripurāri is suggested near a shrine named Tārakāra; Agastya turns to Skanda with folded hands, asking what actions were performed after the long-awaited arrival.
FAQs
True pilgrimage culminates not only in seeing the holy place but in understanding the divine actions and meanings revealed there.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), introduced as a vision of sacred beauty and fulfillment of long-held spiritual desires.
No explicit rite is prescribed in this verse; it opens a narrative inquiry about what was done upon reaching Kāśī.