Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 22
ततस्तदैकलेनापि स्वैरं विहरतामया । स्वविग्रहात्स्वयं सृष्टा स्वशरीरानपायिनी
tatastadaikalenāpi svairaṃ viharatāmayā | svavigrahātsvayaṃ sṛṣṭā svaśarīrānapāyinī
तेव्हा मी तेथे एकटाच स्वैर विहार करीत असता, ती देवी माझ्याच दिव्य विग्रहातून स्वयं प्रकट झाली—स्वदेहापासून कधीही न दूर जाणारी, नित्य स्वयंसिद्ध।
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (Pañcakrośī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Agastya (Pot-born)
Scene: A solitary divine wanderer in Kāśī; from his own radiant form the Goddess appears, self-arisen, standing close yet self-subsistent—an icon of inseparable companionship within the luminous cityscape of ghāṭas and temples.
FAQs
The Divine Feminine (Śakti) is self-manifest and inseparable from the Supreme Lord, indicating non-dual divine unity.
Avimukta-kṣetra in Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), celebrated as the Lord’s eternal playground.
No direct ritual is prescribed here; the verse establishes theology behind Kāśī’s sanctity.