Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 89
विद्या धनानि सदनानि गजाश्वभृत्याः स्रक्चंदनानि वनिताश्च नितांत रम्याः । स्वर्गोप्यगम्य इह नोद्यमभाजिपुंसि वाराणसीत्वसुलभा शलभादिमुक्तिः । धात्रा धृतानि तुलया तुलनामवैतुं वैकुंठमुख्यभुवनानि च काशिका च । तान्युद्ययुर्लघुतयान्यगियं गुरुत्वात्तस्थौ पुरीह पुरुषार्थचतुष्टयस्य
vidyā dhanāni sadanāni gajāśvabhṛtyāḥ srakcaṃdanāni vanitāśca nitāṃta ramyāḥ | svargopyagamya iha nodyamabhājipuṃsi vārāṇasītvasulabhā śalabhādimuktiḥ | dhātrā dhṛtāni tulayā tulanāmavaituṃ vaikuṃṭhamukhyabhuvanāni ca kāśikā ca | tānyudyayurlaghutayānyagiyaṃ gurutvāttasthau purīha puruṣārthacatuṣṭayasya
العِلمُ، والثرواتُ، والقصورُ، والفيلةُ والخيولُ والخَدَمُ، والأكاليلُ والصندلُ، والنساءُ البالغاتُ الحُسن—بل وحتى الجنّة—ليست عسيرةَ المنال هنا لمن يجتهد. أمّا التحرّرُ الذي يُنال في فاراناسي بسهولةٍ كخلاصِ الفراشةِ ونحوِها، فليس كذلك في سواها. وقد وضع الخالقُ فايكونثا وسائرَ العوالمِ العظمى، ومعها كاشيكا، في كفّتَي ميزانٍ ليعرف ثِقلَها؛ فارتفعت تلك العوالمُ لخِفّتِها، وثبتت هذه (كاشي) لثِقَلِها—فهذه هي المدينةُ التي تجتمع فيها مقاصدُ الإنسان الأربعة: الدارما، والأرثا، والكاما، والموكشا.
Skanda (as narrator/teacher in Kāśī Khaṇḍa, typically addressing Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī / Vārāṇasī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis in Naimiṣāraṇya (frame) / internal interlocutors of Kāśī-māhātmya (contextual)
Scene: Brahmā (Dhātṛ) sets Vaikuṇṭha and other lokas on a great balance against Kāśī; the lokas rise as light while Kāśī remains heavy and steady, radiating with Śiva’s presence; pilgrims and ghāṭs hinted in the background.
FAQs
Worldly attainments—even heaven—are secondary; Kāśī is praised as uniquely potent for mokṣa, embodying and surpassing all four puruṣārthas.
Vārāṇasī/Kāśī (Kāśikā), presented as the supreme sacred city whose spiritual “weight” exceeds even Vaikuṇṭha and other worlds.
No specific rite (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; it emphasizes the inherent salvific power of residing in or attaining Kāśī.