Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 91
मुक्तिदा न मही सा मे वाराणस्यां महीयसी । तन्मही रजसा साम्यं त्रिलोक्यपि न चोद्वहेत्
muktidā na mahī sā me vārāṇasyāṃ mahīyasī | tanmahī rajasā sāmyaṃ trilokyapi na codvahet
تلك الأرضُ لي في فاراناسي (Vārāṇasī) عظيمةٌ غاية العظمة؛ ليست «أرضًا» فحسب، بل هي واهبةُ التحرّر. وحتى العوالم الثلاثة لا تطيق أن تساوي غبارها.
Śiva (probable; first-person possessive ‘my’ and liberation-granting Kāśī motif)
Tirtha: Avimukta Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrims/seekers within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame
Scene: Cosmic comparison scene: the three worlds are shown as vast spheres, yet a tiny handful of Kāśī’s dust shines brighter, indicating its incomparable liberating potency; pilgrims bow to the ground of Vārāṇasī.
FAQs
Kāśī is exalted as intrinsically liberating; even contact with its dust is portrayed as spiritually incomparable.
Vārāṇasī/Kāśī as a whole, with special emphasis on its sanctified ground.
No specific rite is prescribed; the verse establishes the exceptional sanctity that undergirds pilgrimage, worship, and dāna in Kāśī.