Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 85
काशीस्थितैर्यतो दर्शि ध्वजो मेषवृषलांछनः । वृषध्वजेन नाम्नातः स्थास्याम्यत्र पितामहाः
kāśīsthitairyato darśi dhvajo meṣavṛṣalāṃchanaḥ | vṛṣadhvajena nāmnātaḥ sthāsyāmyatra pitāmahāḥ
Sapagkat yaong mga nananahan sa Kāśī ay nakikita ang aking watawat na may tatak ng tupa at toro, kaya—O mga Ninuno—mananatili ako rito, na kikilalanin sa pangalang ‘Vṛṣadhvaja’.
Vṛṣadhvaja (i.e., Śiva as ‘Bull-bannered’ Lord; self-identification in the verse)
Tirtha: Vṛṣadhvaja-tīrtha
Type: ghat
Listener: Pitṛs (addressed as ‘pitāmahaḥ’)
Scene: On a Kāśī ghat stands a tall banner-staff; the banner bears a ram and a bull insignia. Pilgrims gaze upward; the Lord’s presence is implied as a radiant aura, while pitṛs are invoked in the background.
FAQs
Divine presence becomes locally accessible through name, form, and sign—making Kāśī a living field of darśana.
Vṛṣadhvaja—presented as a named sacred locus/tīrtha within Kāśī connected to Śiva’s emblem.
No direct prescription; it emphasizes darśana (beholding the divine sign) as a devotional act in Kāśī.