Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 15
क्व काशिका विश्वपदप्रकाशिका क्व कार्यमन्यत्परितोतिदुःखम् । तत्पंडितोन्यत्र कुतः प्रयाति किं याति कूष्मांडफलं ह्यजास्ये
kva kāśikā viśvapadaprakāśikā kva kāryamanyatparitotiduḥkham | tatpaṃḍitonyatra kutaḥ prayāti kiṃ yāti kūṣmāṃḍaphalaṃ hyajāsye
أين كاشيكا، مُنيرةُ المقامِ الأسمى لجميع الخلق، وأين سعيٌ آخر لا يجلب إلا العذاب؟ كيف يذهب الحكيم الحق إلى غيرها؟ وهل تدخل ثمرةُ القرعِ قطُّ في فمِ الماعز؟
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśikā (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A luminous Kāśī panorama with a radiant axis of light from Viśveśvara’s shrine; on the side, a symbolic vignette of a goat refusing a gourd, illustrating the impossibility of the wise choosing inferior paths.
FAQs
Kāśī is depicted as uniquely oriented to liberation; other aims are comparatively pain-laden, so the wise do not trade the highest good for lesser pursuits.
Kāśī/Kāśikā, praised as revealing the highest spiritual state.
None; the verse uses sharp analogies to stress discernment and steadfastness in Kāśī.