Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 54
मातापित्रोरमी भक्ता अमी गोग्रहणे हताः । व्रते दाने जपे यज्ञे स्वाध्याये द्विजतर्पणे
mātāpitroramī bhaktā amī gograhaṇe hatāḥ | vrate dāne jape yajñe svādhyāye dvijatarpaṇe
These are devoted to mother and father; these have perished while protecting cows. In vows, in charity, in mantra-japa, in sacrifice (yajña), in Vedic study, and in the offering that satisfies the twice-born—
Brahmā (context continuation)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis (frame audience)
Scene: A vibrant Kāśī ritual scene: a devotee bowing to parents, another shielding cows from danger, priests performing yajña, students reciting Veda, and devotees offering tarpaṇa at the riverbank.
FAQs
Purāṇic dharma esteems service to parents, protection of the vulnerable (symbolized by the cow), and sustained religious disciplines as powerful sources of merit.
The Kāśī-khaṇḍa context frames these acts as especially meaningful within Kāśī’s sacred sphere, though no single tirtha is named in the verse.
Vrata (vows), dāna (charity), japa, yajña, svādhyāya, and dvija-tarpaṇa are explicitly listed as dharmic practices.