Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 15
लाभाः संतूद्यमवतां गिरीशेह परः शताः । परं परोयं लाभोत्र यत्त्वं दृग्गोचरी भवेः
lābhāḥ saṃtūdyamavatāṃ girīśeha paraḥ śatāḥ | paraṃ paroyaṃ lābhotra yattvaṃ dṛggocarī bhaveḥ
اے گِریش! یہاں جانداروں کو بے شمار فائدے مل سکتے ہیں؛ مگر اُن سب سے بڑھ کر سب سے بڑا فائدہ یہی ہے کہ آپ ہماری آنکھوں کے سامنے جلوہ گر ہوں۔
Birds addressing Śiva
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Internal audience
Scene: Birds gesture toward the Lord, as if weighing ‘many gains’ against the single supreme gain of seeing Śiva; the composition can show symbolic offerings fading in the background while Śiva’s form shines central.
FAQs
All worldly benefits are secondary to divine vision—seeing Śiva is the highest profit of life.
In the Kāśī-khaṇḍa worldview, the ‘greatest gain’ is facilitated by sacred presence—Kāśī is celebrated as a place where such darśana and grace are near.
No explicit ritual; the verse elevates darśana (seeing the deity) as the supreme spiritual attainment.