Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 25
कामरूपधरो देवः प्रीयतामिति वादिनी । सा श्रेष्ठाऽप्सरसां मध्ये वसेत्कल्पमिहांगना
kāmarūpadharo devaḥ prīyatāmiti vādinī | sā śreṣṭhā'psarasāṃ madhye vasetkalpamihāṃganā
นางกล่าวว่า “ขอพระเทพผู้ทรงแปลงรูปตามพระประสงค์จงทรงพอพระทัย” แล้วนางผู้ประเสริฐยิ่งในหมู่อัปสรทั้งหลายก็พำนักอยู่ ณ ที่นั้นตลอดหนึ่งกัลปะเต็ม
Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages / or a dvija interlocutor (contextual)
Scene: An exalted apsaras, radiant and ornamented, stands in reverent posture within Kāśī’s sacred ambience, uttering a pleasing benediction to the form-assuming Lord; the city’s ghats and temple spires suggest timeless residence.
FAQs
Single-minded reverence and praise of the deity is portrayed as yielding exalted, long-lasting divine status.
The broader frame is Kāśī-māhātmya (Kāśīkhaṇḍa), though this verse itself speaks of celestial reward rather than naming a specific tīrtha.
No explicit rite is prescribed here; the emphasis is on devotional utterance and pleasing the deity.