Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 27
ईश्वर उवाच । अयि काशीत्यष्टमूर्तिर्भवो भावाष्टकोभवत् । सत्वरं शिवयाज्ञायि ध्रुवं काश्याहृतोहरः
īśvara uvāca | ayi kāśītyaṣṭamūrtirbhavo bhāvāṣṭakobhavat | satvaraṃ śivayājñāyi dhruvaṃ kāśyāhṛtoharaḥ
ایشور نے کہا: “اے شویایا! جب محض ‘کاشی!’ کا اُچار ہوتا ہے تو بھَو (شیو) آٹھ مُورتی والا بن جاتا ہے، وجود کی آٹھ گونہ حالت کے طور پر ظاہر ہوتا ہے۔ اس لیے، اے شیو کے بھید جاننے والی، ہَر (ہَرَ) یقیناً فوراً کاشی کی طرف کھنچ آتا ہے۔”
Śiva (Īśvara)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and other ṛṣis (frame, implied)
Scene: Śiva speaks with authority; the word ‘Kāśī’ appears as luminous syllables; around him, eightfold cosmic aspects subtly radiate—elements, luminaries, directions—signaling aṣṭamūrti awakening.
FAQs
The very name of Kāśī is spiritually potent; remembrance of Kāśī aligns one with Śiva’s cosmic presence (aṣṭamūrti).
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), portrayed as uniquely magnetic to Śiva and thus supremely sanctifying.
Implicitly, nāma-smaraṇa (remembrance/utterance of ‘Kāśī’) is praised as spiritually efficacious.