Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 21
अगस्त्य उवाच । स्वकार्यनिपुणैः स्वामिन्गीर्वाणैरतिदारुणैः । त्याजितोहं पुरीं काशीं हरो त्याक्षीत्कुतः प्रभुः
agastya uvāca | svakāryanipuṇaiḥ svāmingīrvāṇairatidāruṇaiḥ | tyājitohaṃ purīṃ kāśīṃ haro tyākṣītkutaḥ prabhuḥ
Agastya nói: Muôn tâu Chúa tể, các thiên thần—tuy rất khắc nghiệt nhưng khéo đạt mục đích—đã buộc ta phải rời bỏ thành Kāśī. Vậy làm sao Hara, Đấng Tối Thượng, lại có thể bỏ nơi ấy?
Agastya
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Skanda (implied interlocutor in the surrounding dialogue)
Scene: Agastya, dignified and austere, addresses the Lord with a rhetorical challenge: he himself was compelled to leave Kāśī by the gods, but how could Hara ever leave? The scene carries debate-like intensity within devotion.
FAQs
Kāśī is presented as inseparable from Śiva’s lordship; even if humans are displaced, Śiva’s bond with the kṣetra remains supreme.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), framed as Śiva’s own city.
None; this verse begins a narrative inquiry (praśna) about Kāśī and Śiva.