Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 1
अगस्त्य उवाच । कथं दुर्गेति वै नाम देव्या जातंमुमासुत । कथं च काश्यां सा सेव्या समाचक्ष्वेति मामिह
agastya uvāca | kathaṃ durgeti vai nāma devyā jātaṃmumāsuta | kathaṃ ca kāśyāṃ sā sevyā samācakṣveti māmiha
Agastya thưa rằng: “Hỡi con của Umā, vì sao Nữ thần mang danh ‘Durgā’? Và tại Kāśī, phải phụng thờ Ngài đúng nghi lễ như thế nào? Xin hãy giảng cho ta ngay tại đây.”
Agastya
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (Durgā worship context)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Skanda (Umā-suta)
Scene: Sage Agastya respectfully questions Skanda (Umā’s son) about the origin of the name ‘Durgā’ and her worship in Kāśī; a hermitage-like setting with sacred city implied.
FAQs
A sincere seeker asks not only ‘who’ the deity is, but ‘why’ her name signifies her power and ‘how’ to worship her rightly in a sacred place.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), as the setting where Durgā is to be specially served and understood.
The verse introduces the inquiry about the proper mode of worship in Kāśī; the detailed prescriptions are expected in the following verses.