Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 14
तद्गानेनातिसंतुष्टो मृदुना मधुरेण च । सुतालेन सुरंगेण धातुमात्राकलावता
tadgānenātisaṃtuṣṭo mṛdunā madhureṇa ca | sutālena suraṃgeṇa dhātumātrākalāvatā
അവളുടെ ആ മൃദുവും മധുരവും, സുതാളവും സുന്ദരമായി അലങ്കരിക്കപ്പെട്ടതുമായ, മാത്രാ-ലയകല നിറഞ്ഞ ഗാനം കേട്ട് ഞാൻ അത്യന്തം സന്തുഷ്ടനായി।
Śiva (narrator)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrim-audience/sages (implicit)
Scene: Close-up devotional scene: the liṅga with garlands and bilva; the singer’s posture poised; visual motifs of rhythm—hand cymbals, vīṇā strings, or flowing script-like notes—suggesting measured mātrā and ornamentation; Śiva’s unseen presence felt as a luminous aura.
FAQs
Puranic devotion values aesthetic excellence when it is offered as sincere worship—beauty becomes a vehicle of bhakti.
The verse sits within Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s devotional setting, consistent with Kāśī’s tradition of worship through hymn and song.
No new ritual step is commanded; it emphasizes the devotional quality (sweetness, rhythm, artistry) that pleases the deity.