Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9
हर्षिते च तथा हर्षं वृषभं वृषभध्वजे । केदारे चैव ईशानं शर्वं मध्यमकेश्वरे
harṣite ca tathā harṣaṃ vṛṣabhaṃ vṛṣabhadhvaje | kedāre caiva īśānaṃ śarvaṃ madhyamakeśvare
हर्षित येथे ते ‘हर्ष’ म्हणून प्रसिद्ध; वृषभध्वज येथे ‘वृषभ’ रूपाने पूजिले जातात। केदार येथे ‘ईशान’ आणि मध्यमकेश्वर येथे ‘शर्व’ म्हणून वंद्य आहेत।
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced from Nāgara-khaṇḍa tīrtha-māhātmya narration style)
Tirtha: Harṣita / Vṛṣabhadhvaja / Kedāra / Madhyamakeśvara (clustered listing)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A four-stop pilgrimage: a festive shrine at Harṣita with smiling devotees; a temple with Nandin and bull-banner at Vṛṣabhadhvaja; snowy Himalayan Kedāra with austere Īśāna-liṅga; and a midland forest-temple for Madhyamakeśvara where Śarva is invoked amid cremation-ground symbolism (subtle).
FAQs
Śiva is one, yet compassionately worshipped through many names tied to many holy places; sacred geography becomes a living map of devotion.
Harṣita, Vṛṣabhadhvaja, Kedāra, and Madhyamakeśvara—each presenting Śiva through a distinctive epithet.
No explicit rite is stated here; the verse functions as a stotra-like identification of Śiva’s names at particular tīrthas.