Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 1
अगस्त्य उवाच । सर्वज्ञ हृदयानंद स्कंदस्कंदित तारक । न तृप्तिमधिगच्छामि शृण्वन्वाराणसीकथाम्
agastya uvāca | sarvajña hṛdayānaṃda skaṃdaskaṃdita tāraka | na tṛptimadhigacchāmi śṛṇvanvārāṇasīkathām
अगस्त्य म्हणाले— हे सर्वज्ञ, हृदयाचा आनंद! हे स्कंदाने स्तुत केलेल्या तारका! वाराणसीची पावन कथा ऐकत असतानाही मला तृप्ती लाभत नाही।
Agastya
Tirtha: Vārāṇasī / Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: All-knowing narrator (traditionally Sūta/Skanda-Purāṇa’s kathā-vaktā in Kāśī-khaṇḍa frame)
Scene: Sage Agastya, seated in a hermitage assembly, hands folded, eyes bright with devotion, addresses the all-knowing narrator; palm-leaf manuscripts and a small Śiva-liṅga nearby, as the ‘story of Vārāṇasī’ seems to fill the space.
FAQs
Śravaṇa (devout listening) to the glory of Kāśī is inexhaustibly nourishing and deepens devotion.
Vārāṇasī/Kāśī through its kathā (sacred narrative of the kṣetra).
The implied practice is śravaṇa—attentive listening to the māhātmya.