Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 41
प्रोवाच च प्रसन्नात्मा धन्या यूयं द्विजर्षभाः । येषामिहेदृशी भक्तिर्मम क्षेत्रेतिपावने
provāca ca prasannātmā dhanyā yūyaṃ dvijarṣabhāḥ | yeṣāmihedṛśī bhaktirmama kṣetretipāvane
അപ്പോൾ പ്രസന്നഹൃദയത്തോടെ അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞു—“ഹേ ദ്വിജശ്രേഷ്ഠന്മാരേ, നിങ്ങൾ ധന്യർ; എന്റെ ഈ പരമപാവന ക്ഷേത്രത്തിൽ നിങ്ങളിൽ ഇത്തരമൊരു ഭക്തിയുണ്ട്.”
Śiva (Hara/Bhava)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Śiva’s kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: Śiva, with a gracious, pleased heart, addresses the assembled brāhmaṇas, blessing them as ‘dhanyāḥ’; the atmosphere is luminous, with temple lamps and the sense of Kāśī’s purifying aura.
FAQs
Śiva explicitly blesses those who cultivate devotion within Kāśī, framing the place itself as a catalyst of purity and bhakti.
Śiva’s own kṣetra—Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)—described as ati-pāvana.
No fixed ritual is stated; the core prescription is bhakti (devotional orientation) within the kṣetra.