Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 4
अधाक्षिपमहं कामं त्रिजगज्जित्त्वरंदृशा । अहो काश्यभिलाषोत्र मामेव दुनुयात्तराम्
adhākṣipamahaṃ kāmaṃ trijagajjittvaraṃdṛśā | aho kāśyabhilāṣotra māmeva dunuyāttarām
ਮੈਂ ਤਿੰਨਾਂ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਜਿੱਤਣ ਵਾਲੇ ਕਾਮ ਨੂੰ ਸਿਰਫ਼ ਇਕ ਨਜ਼ਰ ਨਾਲ ਹੀ ਡਾਹ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਸੀ। ਪਰ ਹਾਏ, ਕਾਸ਼ੀ ਦੀ ਇਹ ਲਾਲਸਾ—ਅਚੰਭਾ ਹੀ ਸਹੀ—ਮੈਨੂੰ ਹੀ ਹੋਰ ਵਧ ਕੇ ਤੜਪਾਉਂਦੀ ਹੈ।
Hara (Śiva) (deduced; reference to burning/overpowering Kāma aligns with Śiva)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A dramatic juxtaposition: Shiva’s third-eye glance reducing Kama (or symbol of desire) to submission/ashes, while simultaneously Shiva’s heart is drawn toward a luminous vision of Kashi—ghats, Ganga, and a linga—creating a paradox of conquered desire and sacred longing.
FAQs
Worldly desire can be conquered, yet the ‘desire’ for Kāśī is framed as a higher, sacred yearning—an exalted pull toward liberation and sanctity.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), celebrated as spiritually more compelling than even the forces that sway the three worlds.
No direct prescription; the verse serves as a theological praise of Kāśī’s power to awaken transcendent longing.