Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 34
विधातुः शांभवीं भक्तिं प्रिय सर्वे मनोरथाः । सिद्धयोष्टौ गृहद्वारं सेवंते नात्र संशयः
vidhātuḥ śāṃbhavīṃ bhaktiṃ priya sarve manorathāḥ | siddhayoṣṭau gṛhadvāraṃ sevaṃte nātra saṃśayaḥ
اے عزیز! شَمبھو کی بھکتی کے ذریعے ودھاتا (برہما) کے بھی سب من چاہے مقاصد پورے ہو جاتے ہیں؛ اور آٹھوں سدھیاں خود گھر کے دروازے پر خدمت گزار بن کر کھڑی رہتی ہیں—اس میں کوئی شک نہیں۔
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (Śambhu-bhakti)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Addressed as ‘priya’—a close interlocutor within the Kāśī discourse
Scene: A devotee at a Kāśī threshold with a Śiva shrine inside; personified Aṣṭa-siddhis stand respectfully like attendants at the doorway, while the devotee remains focused on Śambhu rather than them.
FAQs
Devotion to Śiva is exalted as so powerful that even siddhis and fulfilled aims follow naturally.
The verse belongs to the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s praise of Śiva’s grace, a hallmark of Kāśī’s sacred geography.
No specific vow or rite is stated; the emphasis is on Śambhu-bhakti as the efficacious means.