Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31
विश्वेशश्चिंतयां चक्रे पुनः काशीप्रवृत्तये । कं वा हितं प्रहित्याद्य निर्वृतिं परमां भजे
viśveśaściṃtayāṃ cakre punaḥ kāśīpravṛttaye | kaṃ vā hitaṃ prahityādya nirvṛtiṃ paramāṃ bhaje
พระวิศเวศะทรงใคร่ครวญอีกครั้ง เพื่อฟื้นฟูระเบียบศักดิ์สิทธิ์แห่งกาศี: “เราจักเกื้อกูลผู้ใด และจักส่งผู้ใดไปบัดนี้ เพื่อเราจะได้เสวยสันติอันสูงสุด?”
Skanda (narrating Viśveśa’s thought)
Tirtha: Kāśī (as Viśveśa’s kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Muni
Scene: Viśveśa in a quiet sanctum or cosmic space, eyes half-closed, contemplating whom to bless next for Kāśī’s renewed sacred flow; the city’s ghāṭs and temples appear as a subtle mandala around him.
FAQs
Kāśī’s sanctity is portrayed as divinely sustained—Śiva himself wills the welfare of beings through the city’s sacred order.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), as the sphere of Viśveśa’s intentional, ongoing spiritual activity.
No explicit ritual is prescribed; the verse presents the divine resolve behind Kāśī’s dharmic functioning.