Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 42
जाने सत्त्वमया जाताः क्षेत्रस्यास्य निषेवणात् । नीरजस्का वितमसः संसारार्णवपारगाः
jāne sattvamayā jātāḥ kṣetrasyāsya niṣevaṇāt | nīrajaskā vitamasaḥ saṃsārārṇavapāragāḥ
“আমি জানি, এই ক্ষেত্রের সেবা-আশ্রয়ে তোমরা সত্ত্বময় হয়েছ; রজোগুণমুক্ত ও তমোগুণাতীত হয়ে তোমরা সংসার-সমুদ্রের পার পৌঁছেছ।”
Śiva (Hara/Bhava)
Tirtha: Kāśī kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: Śiva explains the inner transformation of pilgrims: their bodies and minds become luminous (sattva), with rajas/tamas depicted as fading shadows; behind them the Gaṅgā and Kāśī temples glow like a spiritual dawn over the ‘ocean of saṃsāra’.
FAQs
Association with Kāśī—through niṣevaṇa (devout attendance/service)—purifies the mind, elevates sattva, and supports liberation from saṃsāra.
Kāśī-kṣetra, praised as a transformative field that purifies the guṇas and leads beyond saṃsāra.
Niṣevaṇa—regular resorting to, serving, and living in alignment with the sanctity of Kāśī—is implied as the practice.