Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 77
प्राप्य काशीं त्यजेद्यस्तु समस्ताघौघनाशिनीम् । नृपशुः स परिज्ञेयो महासौख्यपराङमुखः
prāpya kāśīṃ tyajedyastu samastāghaughanāśinīm | nṛpaśuḥ sa parijñeyo mahāsaukhyaparāṅamukhaḥ
Wer aber, nachdem er Kāśī erreicht hat—die den Strom aller Sünden vernichtet—sie verlässt, der sei als «königliches Tier» erkannt, als einer, der dem höchsten Glück den Rücken kehrt.
Skanda (contextual attribution for Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogues)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A pilgrim at the ghats turning away from Kāśī’s skyline and Viśveśvara’s spire; the text’s ‘nṛpaśu’ (royal beast) is conveyed symbolically—crown-like headgear with animal shadow—contrasted with luminous path toward the temple.
FAQs
To reject a rare liberating opportunity—like life in Kāśī—is to turn away from the highest good.
Kāśī, explicitly praised as the destroyer of all accumulations of sin.
None directly; the instruction is practical-spiritual: do not abandon Kāśī after reaching it.