Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 70
प्रयागादपि तीर्थाग्र्यादविमुक्तं विशिष्यते । यथाविमुक्ते निर्वाणं न तथाक्वाप्यसंशयम्
prayāgādapi tīrthāgryādavimuktaṃ viśiṣyate | yathāvimukte nirvāṇaṃ na tathākvāpyasaṃśayam
প্ৰয়াগৰ দৰে তীৰ্থশ্ৰেষ্ঠৰ ওপৰতো অৱিমুক্ত অধিক বিশিষ্ট। কিয়নো অৱিমুক্তত যিদৰে নিৰ্বাণ, তেনেদৰে আন ক’তো নহয়—ইয়াত কোনো সন্দেহ নাই।
Skanda
Tirtha: Avimukta (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Interlocutor within the chapter (contextual)
Scene: Avimukta-Kāśī at sunrise: Gaṅgā ghāṭas, Viśvanātha temple spire, pilgrims bathing; above, Śiva’s subtle presence blessing the city, suggesting nirvāṇa as a luminous stillness.
FAQs
Kāśī’s Avimukta is proclaimed the supreme mokṣa-kṣetra, uniquely associated with nirvāṇa beyond even the greatest tīrthas.
Avimukta (the sacred Kāśī-kṣetra of Vārāṇasī), explicitly ranked above Prayāga.
No specific rite; the verse is a definitive sthala-māhātmya claim about liberation in Avimukta.