Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31
विश्वेश्वर उवाच । त्रिलोक्यां यानि तीर्थानि भूर्भुवःस्वः स्थितान्यपि । तेभ्योखिलेभ्यस्तीर्थेभ्यः शिवतीर्थमिदं परम्
viśveśvara uvāca | trilokyāṃ yāni tīrthāni bhūrbhuvaḥsvaḥ sthitānyapi | tebhyokhilebhyastīrthebhyaḥ śivatīrthamidaṃ param
Viśveśvara disse: «Quaisquer que sejam os tīrthas nos três mundos—na terra, na região intermediária e no céu—este Śiva-tīrtha é supremo acima de todos».
Viśveśvara/Śiva
Tirtha: Śivatīrtha (identified as supreme)
Type: tirtha
Listener: (Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame listener)
Scene: Viśveśvara speaks with cosmic authority; behind him, a tripartite vista suggests earth, mid-region, and heaven, all pointing toward the radiant Śivatīrtha as the summit of sanctity.
FAQs
The Lord declares a particular Śaiva tīrtha as spiritually unsurpassed, elevating pilgrimage as a path to purification and grace.
Śiva-tīrtha in Kāśī (the chapter’s featured tīrtha, later named Jñānoda).
The verse is chiefly declarative; it establishes the tīrtha’s preeminence, implying pilgrimage and darśana as key acts.