Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 70
प्रयागादपि तीर्थाग्र्यादविमुक्तं विशिष्यते । यथाविमुक्ते निर्वाणं न तथाक्वाप्यसंशयम्
prayāgādapi tīrthāgryādavimuktaṃ viśiṣyate | yathāvimukte nirvāṇaṃ na tathākvāpyasaṃśayam
তীর্থশ্রেষ্ঠ প্রয়াগের থেকেও অবিমুক্ত অধিক শ্রেষ্ঠ। অবিমুক্তে যেমন নির্বাণ, তেমন অন্য কোথাও নয়—এতে সন্দেহ নেই।
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.