Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 2
भूमिष्ठापि न यात्रभूस्त्रिदिवतोप्युच्चैरधःस्थापि या या बद्धा भुवि मुक्तिदास्युरमृतं यस्यां मृता जंतवः । या नित्यं त्रिजगत्पवित्रतटिनी तीरे सुरैः सेव्यते सा काशी त्रिपुरारिराजनगरी पायादपायाज्जगत्
bhūmiṣṭhāpi na yātrabhūstridivatopyuccairadhaḥsthāpi yā yā baddhā bhuvi muktidāsyuramṛtaṃ yasyāṃ mṛtā jaṃtavaḥ | yā nityaṃ trijagatpavitrataṭinī tīre suraiḥ sevyate sā kāśī tripurārirājanagarī pāyādapāyājjagat
Though situated on earth, she is no mere earthly place; though higher even than heaven, she is set here below, within reach. Bound in worldly life, beings there become givers of liberation; creatures who die there attain immortality. Ever served by the gods on the bank of the river that purifies the three worlds, may that Kāśī—the royal city of Tripurāri (Śiva)—protect the world from calamity.
Narrator/Compiler (Kāśī-stuti at the opening)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Panoramic Kāśī: stepped ghāṭs descending to Gaṅgā, gods (deva-s) offering worship on the riverbank, Śiva as Tripurāri presiding over the city like a luminous guardian; a subtle aura suggests ‘earth yet beyond heaven’.
FAQs
Kāśī is portrayed as a uniquely accessible gateway to mokṣa, where even death becomes a passage to immortality.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), especially the Gaṅgā’s purifying riverbank within the sacred city.
No direct prescription; the verse emphasizes devotional service by gods and the salvific power associated with residing/dying in Kāśī.