Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 7
कथं च भगवान्विष्णुरंतरात्मा जगत्पतिः । सर्वेषां जगतां पाता कर्ता हर्ता च लीलया
kathaṃ ca bhagavānviṣṇuraṃtarātmā jagatpatiḥ | sarveṣāṃ jagatāṃ pātā kartā hartā ca līlayā
又为何世尊毗湿奴——作为内在之我、宇宙之主，护持一切世界，并以其神圣戏游（līlā）创造与收摄诸界——会与此圣渡的伟大相连？
Agastya (continuing his inquiry to Skanda)
Tirtha: Pañcanada-tīrtha (context)
Type: ghat
Listener: Ṣaṇmukha (Skanda) addressed; questioner continues
Scene: A theological tableau: Viṣṇu as cosmic Lord hovering above Kāśī’s riverfront, with subtle imagery of creation and dissolution (lotus, cosmic waters), while the tīrtha below shines as a point of contact between cosmos and city.
FAQs
The Purāṇic vision sees the Supreme as both immanent (antarātman) and sovereign (jagatpati), whose cosmic functions unfold as līlā.
The question is asked in the Pañcanada Tīrtha context, preparing to explain how Viṣṇu’s presence or act elevates that Kāśī tīrtha.
None; it is a doctrinal framing that precedes the tīrtha’s narrative.