Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 82
किं विस्मृतं त्वहहगर्भजमामनस्यं कार्तांतदूतकृतबंधन ताडनं च । शंभोरनुग्रह परिग्रह लभ्य काशीं मूढो विहाय किमु याति करस्थ मुक्तिम्
kiṃ vismṛtaṃ tvahahagarbhajamāmanasyaṃ kārtāṃtadūtakṛtabaṃdhana tāḍanaṃ ca | śaṃbhoranugraha parigraha labhya kāśīṃ mūḍho vihāya kimu yāti karastha muktim
Hast du—ach weh—das Leid vergessen, das schon im Mutterleib beginnt, und die Fesseln und Schläge, die die Boten Yamas zufügen? Kāśī wird nur durch die gnädige Annahme und Gunst Śambhus (Śivas) erlangt. Wenn ein Tor Kāśī verlässt, wie sollte er die Befreiung erreichen, die gleichsam schon in seiner eigenen Hand liegt?
Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue convention: Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis (frame typical; not explicit)
Scene: A stark moral diptych: left—womb imagery and Yama’s messengers binding and striking a terrified soul; right—Śambhu’s compassionate gaze over Kāśī’s ghāṭas, placing ‘mukti’ like a jewel into the devotee’s open palm; a foolish figure turns away, symbolizing squandered grace.
FAQs
Remember saṁsāra’s suffering and Yama’s terrors; do not abandon Kāśī, which Śiva grants by grace and which offers near-at-hand liberation.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), praised as a Śiva-granted sacred kṣetra where mokṣa is described as ‘karastha’—within one’s grasp.
No specific rite (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is stated in this verse; the emphasis is on steadfast residence/attachment to Kāśī and reliance on Śiva’s anugraha (grace).