भूमिष्ठापि न यात्रभूस्त्रिदिवतोप्युच्चैरधःस्थापि या या बद्धा भुवि मुक्तिदास्युरमृतं यस्यां मृता जंतवः । या नित्यं त्रिजगत्पवित्रतटिनी तीरे सुरैः सेव्यते सा काशी त्रिपुरारिराजनगरी पायादपायाज्जगत्
bhūmiṣṭhāpi na yātrabhūstridivatopyuccairadhaḥsthāpi yā yā baddhā bhuvi muktidāsyuramṛtaṃ yasyāṃ mṛtā jaṃtavaḥ | yā nityaṃ trijagatpavitrataṭinī tīre suraiḥ sevyate sā kāśī tripurārirājanagarī pāyādapāyājjagat
Obwohl sie auf Erden liegt, ist sie kein bloß irdischer Ort; obwohl höher als der Himmel, ist sie hier herabgesetzt und erreichbar. Weltlich Gebundene werden dort zu Spendern der Befreiung; wer dort stirbt, erlangt Unsterblichkeit. Stets von den Göttern am Ufer des Stromes verehrt, der die drei Welten reinigt—möge dieses Kāśī, die königliche Stadt Tripurāris (Śivas), die Welt vor Unheil bewahren.
Narrator/Compiler (Kāśī-stuti at the opening)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Panoramic Kāśī: stepped ghāṭs descending to Gaṅgā, gods (deva-s) offering worship on the riverbank, Śiva as Tripurāri presiding over the city like a luminous guardian; a subtle aura suggests ‘earth yet beyond heaven’.
Kāśī is portrayed as a uniquely accessible gateway to mokṣa, where even death becomes a passage to immortality.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), especially the Gaṅgā’s purifying riverbank within the sacred city.
No direct prescription; the verse emphasizes devotional service by gods and the salvific power associated with residing/dying in Kāśī.