Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 48
मन्ये धन्यतरोसि त्वं बहुजन्मशतार्जितैः । सुकृतैः पासि यत्काशीं विश्वभर्तुः परां तनुम्
manye dhanyatarosi tvaṃ bahujanmaśatārjitaiḥ | sukṛtaiḥ pāsi yatkāśīṃ viśvabhartuḥ parāṃ tanum
Ich halte dich für überaus gesegnet: Durch Verdienste, in Hunderten von Geburten erworben, vermagst du Kāśī zu schauen, den höchsten Leib des Herrn, der das Weltall trägt.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: The King addressed as ‘tvam’
Scene: A pilgrim-king stands at dawn on a Kāśī ghāṭa, hands folded, beholding the city as a living divine form; the skyline subtly aligns into Śiva’s cosmic silhouette, suggesting ‘Kāśī as the Lord’s body’.
FAQs
Reaching and beholding Kāśī is portrayed as the fruit of vast accumulated puṇya across many lives.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), revered as the ‘supreme body’ of the cosmic Lord.
No explicit ritual is stated; the emphasis is on darśana of Kāśī as a rare fruit of sukṛta.