Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 17
यायात्स्वं हेलया त्यक्त्वा तद्विष्णोः परमं पदम् । यमेंद्राग्निमुखा देवा दृष्ट्वा मुक्तिपथोन्मुखान्
yāyātsvaṃ helayā tyaktvā tadviṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padam | yameṃdrāgnimukhā devā dṛṣṭvā muktipathonmukhān
Ihre eigenen Wohnstätten warfen sie ab, als wären sie eine Kleinigkeit, und eilten hin zu jenem höchsten Stand Viṣṇus. Als die Götter—Yama, Indra, Agni und die übrigen—die Wesen sahen, die sich dem Pfad der Befreiung zuwandten, wurden sie wachsam.
Skanda (contextual, Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration)
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A stream of pilgrims/embodied beings, casting off homes and possessions, move toward a radiant ‘parama-pada’ horizon; above them Yama, Indra, Agni and other devas watch alertly, as if a cosmic checkpoint has been activated around Kāśī.
FAQs
Liberation (mukti) is portrayed as the highest aim, so potent that even the gods take notice when beings turn toward it.
The broader context is Kāśī-kṣetra (Varanasi), famed in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa as a unique field of liberation.
No explicit rite is stated in this verse; it frames the theological setting of mokṣa and divine oversight.