Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 65
उद्दिष्टानां तु तीर्थानामेतेषां कलशोद्भव । नाममात्रमपि श्रुत्वा निष्पापो जायते नरः । इदानीं प्रस्तुतं विप्र शृणु वक्ष्यामि तेग्रतः । वैकुंठनाथो यच्चक्रे शंखचक्रगदाधरः
uddiṣṭānāṃ tu tīrthānāmeteṣāṃ kalaśodbhava | nāmamātramapi śrutvā niṣpāpo jāyate naraḥ | idānīṃ prastutaṃ vipra śṛṇu vakṣyāmi tegrataḥ | vaikuṃṭhanātho yaccakre śaṃkhacakragadādharaḥ
Wahai Kalaśodbhava (Agastya), tentang tīrtha-tīrtha yang telah ditunjukkan ini, hanya dengan mendengar namanya sahaja seseorang menjadi bebas daripada dosa. Kini, wahai brāhmaṇa, dengarkan hal yang sedang dibicarakan; akan aku nyatakan di hadapanmu apa yang pernah dilakukan oleh Vaikuṇṭhanātha, Tuhan yang memegang sangkha, cakra dan gadā.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī tīrthas (collective)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Agastya (addressed as Kalaśodbhava)
Scene: Skanda addresses Agastya, declaring the purifying power of merely hearing tīrtha names; then introduces Vaikuṇṭhanātha, four-armed with conch, discus, and mace, poised for a deed in Kāśī.
FAQs
Bhakti begins with śravaṇa: even hearing the names of Kāśī’s tīrthas is praised as a purifier, preparing one for deeper dharma and devotion.
The verse praises the previously listed Kāśī tīrthas collectively, emphasizing the sanctity of their very names.
Śravaṇa (devout listening/hearing) of tīrtha-nāmas is presented as spiritually efficacious; no physical rite is mandated in this verse.