Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 77
वाराणसी परिसरे तनुमिष्टदात्रीं धर्मार्थकामनिलयामहहाविसृज्य । इष्टं पदं किमपि हृष्टतरोभिलष्य लाभोस्तुमूलमपि नो यदवाप शून्यम्
vārāṇasī parisare tanumiṣṭadātrīṃ dharmārthakāmanilayāmahahāvisṛjya | iṣṭaṃ padaṃ kimapi hṛṣṭatarobhilaṣya lābhostumūlamapi no yadavāpa śūnyam
Alas—having cast off the body within the precincts of Vārāṇasī, bestower of desired boons and abode of dharma, artha, and kāma—one joyfully longs for some cherished supreme state; let there be true gain, for here even its very root is not void: it is surely attained.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A devotee, having renounced the body in Kāśī, is shown moving beyond symbols of dharma (scripture), artha (coins), and kāma (garlands) toward a radiant, serene ‘iṣṭa pada’; the city’s ghāṭas glow behind as assurance of attainment.
FAQs
Kāśī is celebrated as a sure ground of attainment—supporting worldly puruṣārthas and pointing beyond them to a cherished highest state.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), especially its parisara (sacred precincts) as a giver of desired fruits and higher realization.
None explicitly; the verse centers on the consequence of relinquishing the body in Vārāṇasī and the certainty of attainment.