Shloka 36
Viśveśvara-māhātmya and the Nirguṇa–Saguṇa Emergence of Śiva (Śakti–Puruṣa/Prakṛti Discourse)
काश्यां पुर्यां त्वया देव राजधानी प्रगृह्यताम् । मया ध्यानतया स्थेयमचिंत्य सुखहेतवे
kāśyāṃ puryāṃ tvayā deva rājadhānī pragṛhyatām | mayā dhyānatayā stheyamaciṃtya sukhahetave
ஓ தேவா! காசி நகரில் நீர் அரச ஆசனத்தை ஏற்றருள்வீராக. நான் அசிந்த்ய ஆனந்தத்தின் காரணமாகத் தியானத்தில் நிலைத்திருப்பேன்.
Parvati (addressing Lord Shiva, inferred from Kotirudra context on Kāśī and Shiva’s abode)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Paśupatinātha
Jyotirlinga: Viśvanātha
Sthala Purana: Pārvatī petitions Śiva to accept Kāśī as His royal seat (rājadhānī) for the welfare of beings; Śiva’s abiding presence sanctifies Kāśī as the supreme kṣetra where liberation is specially accessible.
Significance: Darśana and worship of Viśvanātha in Kāśī is held to confer swift spiritual uplift and mokṣa-oriented saṃskāra; Kāśī is treated as an anugraha-kṣetra where Śiva’s grace is foregrounded.
Shakti Form: Pārvatī
Role: teaching
FAQs
The verse links Kāśī with Shiva’s sovereign presence (Pati) and shows that abiding in dhyāna oriented to Shiva yields “inconceivable bliss,” pointing to grace-born inner freedom rather than mere worldly pleasure.
Kāśī is celebrated in the Kotirudrasaṃhitā as a supreme Shaiva tirtha where Saguna Shiva is worshipped—especially through the Jyotirlinga tradition—while meditation internalizes that same Lord as the indwelling reality.
The takeaway is steady dhyāna on Shiva: combine japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) with Linga-darśana/abhisheka, and sustain inward contemplation to taste the ‘aciṃtya sukha’ described.