Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 61
इच्छाशक्तिः क्रियाशक्तिर्ज्ञानशक्तिस्तथोत्तमा । शक्तित्रयमिदं विष्णो गृहाण प्रापितं मया
icchāśaktiḥ kriyāśaktirjñānaśaktistathottamā | śaktitrayamidaṃ viṣṇo gṛhāṇa prāpitaṃ mayā
इच्छाशक्ती, क्रियाशक्ती आणि परम ज्ञानशक्ती—हे विष्णो, हे त्रिशक्तिरूप अर्पण मी केले आहे; आपण स्वीकारावे.
Śiva (Hara)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and other Ṛṣis (contextual)
Scene: A cosmic court-like vision: Śiva (Hara) addresses Viṣṇu, presenting three radiant śaktis—will, action, and knowledge—visualized as three luminous streams or goddesses emanating from Śiva’s heart/third eye and offered into Viṣṇu’s hands.
FAQs
All capacities—will, action, and knowledge—are ultimately divine powers that can be consciously offered back to God in devotion.
The broader frame is the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, oriented to the greatness of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), though this verse itself focuses on divine power-transfer.
No explicit ritual is prescribed here; it presents a devotional offering (arpaṇa) of one’s powers to Viṣṇu.