Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31
वेदा विदंति न यथार्थतया भवंतं ब्रह्मादयोपि न चराचर सूत्रधार । त्वं हंसि पासि विदधासि समस्तमेकः कस्तेस्तुतिव्यतिकरो मनसाप्यगम्य
vedā vidaṃti na yathārthatayā bhavaṃtaṃ brahmādayopi na carācara sūtradhāra | tvaṃ haṃsi pāsi vidadhāsi samastamekaḥ kastestutivyatikaro manasāpyagamya
即使吠陀也不能如实尽知你；梵天等诸神亦不识你，噢无形的统摄者，维系动与不动之万有。唯你独自毁灭、护持并安立整个宇宙。谁能为你成就相称的赞颂——你甚至超越心念所及？
Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa context) speaking to Agastya
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (Viśveśvara sphere)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Implied deity addressed (Supreme Lord in Kāśī context)
Scene: A devotee in Kāśī offers a hymn before an unseen, all-pervading Lord; behind, the cosmos is shown as a woven tapestry—moving and unmoving beings held by an invisible ‘sūtradhāra’. Brahmā and devas stand with bowed heads, Vedas personified as unable to fully encompass the deity.
FAQs
Śiva, the inner ruler of all beings, transcends even Vedic and mental comprehension; devotion recognizes His supreme, all-encompassing sovereignty.
The verse occurs within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī Māhātmya framework, implicitly praising Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as the supreme Śaiva sacred geography where Śiva’s greatness is celebrated.
No direct prescription (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) appears in this verse; it functions as a theological stuti emphasizing Śiva’s transcendence and cosmic lordship.