Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 83
तीर्थांतराणि कलुषाणि हरति सद्यः श्रेयो ददत्यपि बहु त्रिदिवं नयंति । पानावगाहनविधानतनुप्रहाणैर्वाराणसी तु कुरुते बत मूलनाशम्
tīrthāṃtarāṇi kaluṣāṇi harati sadyaḥ śreyo dadatyapi bahu tridivaṃ nayaṃti | pānāvagāhanavidhānatanuprahāṇairvārāṇasī tu kurute bata mūlanāśam
অন্য তীৰ্থসমূহে তৎক্ষণাৎ কলুষ হৰণ কৰে, বহু মঙ্গল দান কৰে আৰু স্বৰ্গলৈও নিবলৈ সক্ষম। কিন্তু বাৰাণসী—তাৰ জল পান, স্নান-অৱগাহন আৰু তাত দেহ ত্যাগৰ বিধানৰ দ্বাৰা—পাপৰ মূলতেই আশ্চৰ্য নাশ ঘটায়।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda instructing Agastya)
Tirtha: Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis in Naimiṣāraṇya (frame-tradition) / internal Kāśī-māhātmya audience
Scene: A panoramic Kāśī riverfront: pilgrims sipping Ganga water, others immersed in snāna, and in the background a serene deathbed scene within the kṣetra attended by priests—symbolizing ‘pāna–avagāhana–tanu-tyāga’ as three gates to root-level purification.
FAQs
While many tīrthas grant quick purification and heavenly merit, Kāśī is praised as uniquely capable of eradicating sin at its very root, pointing to liberation-oriented merit beyond mere svarga.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) is explicitly glorified as surpassing other tīrthas in its māhātmya.
Pāna (drinking sacred water) and avagāhana (ritual immersion/bathing) are mentioned, along with tanu-prahāṇa—relinquishing the body in Kāśī—presented as especially potent acts within the Kāśī-mahātmya.