Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 87
दृक्पिच्छिला विलोक्यंते माणिक्यस्तंभराजयः । यतोऽविमुक्ते स्वक्षेत्रे मोक्षलक्ष्म्यंकुरा इव
dṛkpicchilā vilokyaṃte māṇikyastaṃbharājayaḥ | yato'vimukte svakṣetre mokṣalakṣmyaṃkurā iva
Rows of ruby pillars seemed almost ‘sticky to the gaze,’ so captivating were they—like sprouts of the very prosperity of liberation rising in Avimukta, Śiva’s own domain.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Avimukta (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Rows of ruby pillars in a Kāśī shrine-hall shimmer so intensely that the eye seems to cling to them; the pillars are visualized as tender sprouts of mokṣa-śrī rising from Śiva’s own soil.
FAQs
Kāśī is presented as a mokṣa-kṣetra: even its beauty points beyond itself to liberation, the highest ‘wealth’ bestowed by Śiva.
Avimukta-Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), explicitly named as Śiva’s own sacred domain.
None; the verse uses symbolism to proclaim Kāśī’s liberating greatness.