Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 70
प्रयागादपि तीर्थाग्र्यादविमुक्तं विशिष्यते । यथाविमुक्ते निर्वाणं न तथाक्वाप्यसंशयम्
prayāgādapi tīrthāgryādavimuktaṃ viśiṣyate | yathāvimukte nirvāṇaṃ na tathākvāpyasaṃśayam
حتى ما وراء براياگا، وهو أسمى التيـرثات، فإن أفيموكتا أرفع منزلة. لأن النيرفانا كما تُنال في أفيموكتا لا تُنال كذلك في أي موضع آخر؛ ولا شك في ذلك.
Skanda
Tirtha: Avimukta (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Interlocutor within the chapter (contextual)
Scene: Avimukta-Kāśī at sunrise: Gaṅgā ghāṭas, Viśvanātha temple spire, pilgrims bathing; above, Śiva’s subtle presence blessing the city, suggesting nirvāṇa as a luminous stillness.
FAQs
Kāśī’s Avimukta is proclaimed the supreme mokṣa-kṣetra, uniquely associated with nirvāṇa beyond even the greatest tīrthas.
Avimukta (the sacred Kāśī-kṣetra of Vārāṇasī), explicitly ranked above Prayāga.
No specific rite; the verse is a definitive sthala-māhātmya claim about liberation in Avimukta.