Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 55
सवयस्कानिति मुहुः समाह्वयति लालयन् । शब्दग्रहौ न गृह्णीतस्तस्यान्याख्यां हरादृते
savayaskāniti muhuḥ samāhvayati lālayan | śabdagrahau na gṛhṇītastasyānyākhyāṃ harādṛte
Vừa âu yếm vừa nựng nịu, người ấy luôn gọi: “Hỡi bạn bè đồng niên!” nhưng đôi ‘kẻ bắt lời’ (tai) của người ấy chẳng nắm lấy tên nào khác cho mình ngoài “Hara”.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A tender domestic scene in Kāśī: a devotee fondles a child, calling playfully, yet the child’s ears ‘catch’ only ‘Hara’; the background hums with temple bells and distant kīrtana.
FAQs
True devotion reshapes the senses so that one naturally receives only the remembrance of Śiva.
Kāśī, where the ideal devotee is portrayed as hearing nothing higher than Śiva’s name.
An implied discipline of śravaṇa—training the ear toward divine nāma and away from distractions.