Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 1
ईश्वर उवाच । ततश्चानन्तरं राजा जगामोद्वेगमुत्तमम् । कथं यामि गृहं त्वद्य वाराणस्यामहं पुनः
īśvara uvāca | tataścānantaraṃ rājā jagāmodvegamuttamam | kathaṃ yāmi gṛhaṃ tvadya vārāṇasyāmahaṃ punaḥ
ईश्वर म्हणाले—त्यानंतर राजा अत्यंत व्याकुळ झाला। तो म्हणाला—“आज मी घरी कसा जाऊ? आणि पुन्हा वाराणसीला कसा परत येऊ?”
Īśvara (Śiva)
Tirtha: Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) (referential)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A troubled king pauses mid-journey, face tense with remorse, imagining Kāśī’s ghāṭas and questioning his return; the landscape hints at the Narmadā region while Kāśī appears as a luminous mental vision.
FAQs
Remorse awakens spiritual urgency—one who has erred fears facing society and longs for a sacred refuge like Kāśī.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) is explicitly mentioned, evoking its role as a supreme place of purification and spiritual recourse.
None directly; the verse expresses the king’s dilemma about returning home and to Kāśī.