Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 18
अहो मोहस्य माहात्म्यमहो भाग्यविपर्ययः । निर्वाणराशिं यत्काशीं प्राप्य यांत्यन्यतोऽबुधाः
aho mohasya māhātmyamaho bhāgyaviparyayaḥ | nirvāṇarāśiṃ yatkāśīṃ prāpya yāṃtyanyato'budhāḥ
Ach, wie mächtig ist die Verblendung, und wie verkehrt das Glück! Denn obwohl sie Kāśī erreicht haben, den Schatz der Erlösung, gehen die Unweisen dennoch anderswohin.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration, commonly Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis
Scene: A narrator-like voice laments as pilgrims, having reached radiant Kāśī, turn their backs and walk away into dusty roads—liberation glowing behind them like a treasure left unopened.
FAQs
Liberation may be near at hand, yet delusion drives people away; wisdom is to recognize and remain aligned with the highest good.
Kāśī, explicitly praised as a concentrated source of nirvāṇa (mokṣa).
None explicit; the stress is on right discernment and valuing Kāśī’s mokṣa-giving presence.