Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 77
वाराणसी परिसरे तनुमिष्टदात्रीं धर्मार्थकामनिलयामहहाविसृज्य । इष्टं पदं किमपि हृष्टतरोभिलष्य लाभोस्तुमूलमपि नो यदवाप शून्यम्
vārāṇasī parisare tanumiṣṭadātrīṃ dharmārthakāmanilayāmahahāvisṛjya | iṣṭaṃ padaṃ kimapi hṛṣṭatarobhilaṣya lābhostumūlamapi no yadavāpa śūnyam
হায়! বাৰাণসীৰ পৰিসৰত—ইষ্ট দানদাত্ৰী, ধৰ্ম-অৰ্থ-কামৰ নিবাস—দেহ ত্যাগ কৰি মানুহে অতি হৃষ্টচিত্তে কোনো প্ৰিয় পৰম পদ কামনা কৰে। লাভ হওক—কাৰণ ইয়াত তাৰ মূল পৰ্যন্তও শূন্য নহয়; নিশ্চয়েই প্ৰাপ্তি ঘটে।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A devotee, having renounced the body in Kāśī, is shown moving beyond symbols of dharma (scripture), artha (coins), and kāma (garlands) toward a radiant, serene ‘iṣṭa pada’; the city’s ghāṭas glow behind as assurance of attainment.
FAQs
Kāśī is celebrated as a sure ground of attainment—supporting worldly puruṣārthas and pointing beyond them to a cherished highest state.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), especially its parisara (sacred precincts) as a giver of desired fruits and higher realization.
None explicitly; the verse centers on the consequence of relinquishing the body in Vārāṇasī and the certainty of attainment.