Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 96
काश्यां वसंति ये धीरा आपंचत्व विनिश्चयाः । जीवन्मुक्तास्तु ते ज्ञेया वंद्याः पूज्यास्त एव हि
kāśyāṃ vasaṃti ye dhīrā āpaṃcatva viniścayāḥ | jīvanmuktāstu te jñeyā vaṃdyāḥ pūjyāsta eva hi
যে ধীর সাধকগণ কাশীতে বাস করেন এবং পঞ্চত্বাতীত অবস্থার নিশ্চিত সিদ্ধান্তে স্থিত, তাঁরা জীবন্মুক্ত বলে জ্ঞেয়; সত্যই তাঁরাই বন্দনীয় ও পূজনীয়।
Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and sages (typical frame)
Scene: A serene Kāśī riverside at dawn: steadfast ascetics and householders with calm faces, seated in meditation near a ghat, while devotees offer respectful salutations; Viśvanātha’s presence implied through liṅga iconography and temple spires in the distance.
FAQs
Life in Kāśī, grounded in firm spiritual discernment, culminates in jīvanmukti—liberation while still embodied.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), celebrated as a supreme liberating sacred geography (sthāna).
No specific rite is prescribed here; the verse emphasizes inner certainty and realized wisdom as the mark of sanctity in Kāśī.