Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 73
अन्यानि मुक्तिक्षेत्राणि काशीप्राप्तिकराणि च । काशीं ध्यायमिमं श्रुत्वा नरो नियतमानसः । श्रावयित्वा द्विजांश्चापि श्रद्धाभक्तिसमन्वितान्
anyāni muktikṣetrāṇi kāśīprāptikarāṇi ca | kāśīṃ dhyāyamimaṃ śrutvā naro niyatamānasaḥ | śrāvayitvā dvijāṃścāpi śraddhābhaktisamanvitān
Other sacred fields of liberation too become causes for attaining Kāśī. A man of disciplined mind, meditating on Kāśī, having heard this account and also causing faithful, devoted Brāhmaṇas to hear it, gains the merit that leads toward Kāśī and release.
Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa context: Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A disciplined devotee seated in meditation, visualizing Kāśī’s ghāṭas and Viśvanātha, while a reciter chants the Kāśī-māhātmya to an assembly of śraddhā-bhakti-yukta Brāhmaṇas; the ‘inner pilgrimage’ mirrors the outer city.
FAQs
With faith, disciplined attention, and devotion, hearing and transmitting Kāśī’s māhātmya becomes a powerful means toward liberation-oriented merit.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) is central; other mukti-kṣetras are praised insofar as they become conduits leading to Kāśī.
Śravaṇa (hearing) and śrāvaṇa/pravacana (causing others—especially faithful dvijas—to hear/recite) of the Kāśī-māhātmya, along with meditation on Kāśī.