Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 83
तीर्थांतराणि कलुषाणि हरति सद्यः श्रेयो ददत्यपि बहु त्रिदिवं नयंति । पानावगाहनविधानतनुप्रहाणैर्वाराणसी तु कुरुते बत मूलनाशम्
tīrthāṃtarāṇi kaluṣāṇi harati sadyaḥ śreyo dadatyapi bahu tridivaṃ nayaṃti | pānāvagāhanavidhānatanuprahāṇairvārāṇasī tu kurute bata mūlanāśam
إن سائرَ التيَرثات تُزيلُ الأدرانَ سريعًا، وتمنحُ وجوهًا كثيرةً من الخير، وقد تقودُ إلى السماء. أمّا فاراناسي، فبرياضاتِ شربِ مائها، والاغتسالِ والانغماسِ فيه، بل وبطرحِ الجسدِ هناك، فإنها تُحدث حقًّا الإبادةَ العجيبةَ للخطيئة من أصلها.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda instructing Agastya)
Tirtha: Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis in Naimiṣāraṇya (frame-tradition) / internal Kāśī-māhātmya audience
Scene: A panoramic Kāśī riverfront: pilgrims sipping Ganga water, others immersed in snāna, and in the background a serene deathbed scene within the kṣetra attended by priests—symbolizing ‘pāna–avagāhana–tanu-tyāga’ as three gates to root-level purification.
FAQs
While many tīrthas grant quick purification and heavenly merit, Kāśī is praised as uniquely capable of eradicating sin at its very root, pointing to liberation-oriented merit beyond mere svarga.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) is explicitly glorified as surpassing other tīrthas in its māhātmya.
Pāna (drinking sacred water) and avagāhana (ritual immersion/bathing) are mentioned, along with tanu-prahāṇa—relinquishing the body in Kāśī—presented as especially potent acts within the Kāśī-mahātmya.