Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 71
प्राणायामश्च तपसां मंत्राणां प्रणवो यथा । धर्माणामप्यहिंसा च काम्यानां श्रीर्यथा वरा
prāṇāyāmaśca tapasāṃ maṃtrāṇāṃ praṇavo yathā | dharmāṇāmapyahiṃsā ca kāmyānāṃ śrīryathā varā
যেনেকৈ তপস্যাসমূহৰ মাজত প্ৰাণায়াম শ্ৰেষ্ঠ আৰু মন্ত্ৰসমূহৰ মাজত প্ৰণৱ ‘ওঁ’ শ্ৰেষ্ঠ; যেনেকৈ ধৰ্মসমূহৰ মাজত অহিংসা শ্ৰেষ্ঠ আৰু কাম্য বৰসমূহৰ মাজত শ্ৰী সৰ্বোত্তম—তেনেকৈ এই প্ৰশংসিত তীৰ্থই শ্ৰেষ্ঠত্ব লাভ কৰে।
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī tīrtha (Gaṅgā/Viśveśvara sphere, implied)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer audience
Scene: Four emblematic motifs—yogi in prāṇāyāma, glowing Oṃ, compassionate figure practicing ahiṃsā, and Lakṣmī/Śrī bestowing auspiciousness—converge toward the sacred tīrtha backdrop.
FAQs
Spiritual life has central pillars—discipline, sacred sound, and compassion—used here to frame the highest excellence of the sacred context.
Contextually, the Gaṅgā-tīrtha in Kāśī is being praised as ‘foremost’ like Oṃ among mantras.
Prāṇāyāma and reverence for Praṇava (Oṃ) are referenced as exemplary practices; ahiṃsā is upheld as a paramount dharma.