Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31
इत्थं सुनिश्चित्य मुनिर्महात्मा क्षेत्रप्रभावं श्रुतितः पुराणात् । श्रीविश्वनाथेन समं न लिंगं पुरी न काशी सदृशी त्रिकोट्याम्
itthaṃ suniścitya munirmahātmā kṣetraprabhāvaṃ śrutitaḥ purāṇāt | śrīviśvanāthena samaṃ na liṃgaṃ purī na kāśī sadṛśī trikoṭyām
Thus, having firmly concluded—on the authority of the Purāṇa and the testimony of sacred tradition—the great sage understood the glory of the holy kṣetra of Kāśī: among the three crores of tīrthas, no liṅga equals Śrī Viśvanātha, and no city compares with Kāśī.
Skanda (narrative voice, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) – Śrī Viśvanātha
Type: kshetra
Listener: Audience of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa discourse (traditionally sages/śaunaka-type assembly)
Scene: A great sage, having heard purāṇic testimony, stands in reverent contemplation before the luminous Viśvanātha liṅga; behind him the sacred cityscape of Kāśī with ghāṭas and temple spires, suggesting ‘no equal among trikoṭi tīrthas’.
FAQs
Scriptural discernment leads to reverence: Kāśī and Śrī Viśvanātha are praised as unmatched loci of Śiva’s grace.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as the supreme kṣetra, centered on the liṅga of Śrī Viśvanātha.
No explicit rite is prescribed here; the verse functions as a mahātmya-statement establishing Kāśī’s preeminence.