Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 61
तावत्स्थास्याम्यहं चात्र यावत्काशी मुने त्विह । प्रलयेपि न नाशोस्याः शिवशूलाग्र सुस्थितेः
tāvatsthāsyāmyahaṃ cātra yāvatkāśī mune tviha | pralayepi na nāśosyāḥ śivaśūlāgra susthiteḥ
“O sage, I shall remain established here for as long as Kāśī endures. Even at the time of cosmic dissolution, this Kāśī is not destroyed, for it stands firmly upon the very tip of Śiva’s trident.”
Śrī Viṣṇu
Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Agnibindu Mahāmuni (and the broader frame’s interlocutors)
Scene: Viṣṇu (or the speaking deity) declares Kāśī’s imperishability; Kāśī visualized as a luminous city resting upon the sharp tip of Śiva’s trident, with cosmic waters of pralaya surrounding yet not touching it.
FAQs
Kāśī is proclaimed as eternally protected and metaphysically anchored in Śiva, making it a supreme field for liberation-oriented dharma.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) itself is glorified as imperishable, even during pralaya.
No specific rite is prescribed here; the verse establishes the eternal status of Kāśī as the basis for later tīrtha practices.