Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 38
अपि काश्यां वसेद्यस्तु सर्वाशी सर्वविक्रयी । स यां गतिं लभेन्मर्त्यो यज्ञैर्दानैर्न सान्यतः
api kāśyāṃ vasedyastu sarvāśī sarvavikrayī | sa yāṃ gatiṃ labhenmartyo yajñairdānairna sānyataḥ
حتى لو أقام رجلٌ في كاشي وهو يأكل كلَّ شيءٍ ويبيع كلَّ شيء، فإن المنزلة التي ينالها لا تُنال في موضعٍ آخر بالقرابين (يَجْنَا) ولا بالعطايا (دانَا).
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (residential merit)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A morally ordinary (even flawed) householder in Kāśī—market scenes of trade—yet bathed in the city’s sanctifying aura; in the background, yajña fires and dāna scenes appear smaller, indicating their lesser efficacy compared to Kāśī’s grace.
FAQs
Kāśī’s sanctity is so great that mere residence there yields a spiritual attainment beyond what ordinary rites can secure elsewhere.
Kāśī as a residence-place (vāsa-kṣetra) granting exceptional spiritual destiny.
No prescription; it contrasts Kāśī-vāsa with yajña and dāna, asserting Kāśī’s superior fruit.