Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 28
अथबालसखी भूत तत्तत्काननवीरुधम् शिवाप्रस्तावयांचक्रे विमुक्तां मुक्तिदां पुरीम्
athabālasakhī bhūta tattatkānanavīrudham śivāprastāvayāṃcakre vimuktāṃ muktidāṃ purīm
ثم كأنها صارت رفيقةً فتية، أخذت هي (بارفتي) تذكر وتصف تلك المدينة—كاشي—المتحررة في ذاتها، المانحة للتحرر، وسط غاباتٍ وشجيراتٍ ومتسلقاتٍ شتى.
Narrator (contextual)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and other ṛṣis (frame, implied)
Scene: Pārvatī, as if a youthful friend, animatedly describes Kāśī amid varied forests and creepers—an enchanting sacred city blending nature and liberation.
FAQs
Kāśī is celebrated not merely as a place of beauty but as a mokṣa-bestowing sacred city.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), explicitly called “muktidā purī.”
No explicit ritual appears; the emphasis is on hearing/reciting Kāśī’s praise as a purāṇic merit-bearing act.