अहोरात्रं स पश्यन्वै क्षेत्रं दृष्टेरदूरगम् । प्राप्याष्टमीं च भूतां च मध्ये क्षेत्रं सदा विशेत्
ahorātraṃ sa paśyanvai kṣetraṃ dṛṣṭeradūragam | prāpyāṣṭamīṃ ca bhūtāṃ ca madhye kṣetraṃ sadā viśet
وہ دن رات بھر اس مقدّس کشتَر کو دیکھتا رہے—اتنا قریب کہ نگاہ سے دور نہ ہو۔ جب اَشٹمی (آٹھویں تِتھی) آئے تو ہمیشہ کشتَر کے بیچ میں داخل ہو کر وہیں ٹھہرا رہے۔
Narratorial voice within Skanda’s discourse (deduced Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame: Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (madhya-bhāga / hṛdaya)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Agastya
Scene: A pilgrim stands on a vantage point outside Kāśī, keeping the city’s spires and ghāṭs within sight through day and night; as the moon marks Aṣṭamī, the pilgrim crosses into the city’s ‘heart’ toward the central shrine.
Sacred time (tithi) and sacred space (kṣetra) work together; intentional darśana and entry into Kāśī at auspicious times amplifies spiritual merit.
The Kāśī-kṣetra as a whole, especially its ‘madhya’ (inner sacred core).
A timing-based prescription: on Aṣṭamī, one should enter/abide within the kṣetra after keeping it in view (darśana) for a day and night.