Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 73
मंदराद्रिगतेनापि क्षेत्रं नैतत्पिनाकिना । विमुक्तं लिंगरूपेण अविमुक्तमतः स्मृतम्
maṃdarādrigatenāpi kṣetraṃ naitatpinākinā | vimuktaṃ liṃgarūpeṇa avimuktamataḥ smṛtam
মন্দৰ পৰ্বতলৈ গ’লেও পিনাকিন (শিৱ) এই ক্ষেত্ৰ ত্যাগ নকৰিলে। লিঙ্গ-ৰূপে ই অবিমুক্ত নোহোৱাত, সেয়েহে ই ‘অবিমুক্ত’—অর্থাৎ ‘কেতিয়াও নত্যাগিত’—বুলি স্মৃত।
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Avimukta
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis/assembly (typical frame; not stated in verse)
Scene: Śiva with Pināka bow departing toward Mandara while a luminous liṅga remains in Kāśī, anchoring the city; a visual split-scene showing ‘movement’ and ‘non-abandonment’ simultaneously.
FAQs
Kāśī’s holiness is grounded in Śiva’s unbroken presence; the divine does not abandon the liberating field.
Avimukta Kṣetra—Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), defined as the place never abandoned by Śiva.
No direct prescription; the verse implies liṅga-worship as the mode through which Śiva remains present in the kṣetra.