Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 18
क्षणान्निर्धूत पापोसौ न पुनर्गर्भभाग्भवेत । स स्नातः सर्वतीर्थेषु सर्वावभृथवान्स च
kṣaṇānnirdhūta pāposau na punargarbhabhāgbhaveta | sa snātaḥ sarvatīrtheṣu sarvāvabhṛthavānsa ca
In an instant his sins are shaken off; he does not again become subject to the womb of rebirth. He is as one who has bathed at all tīrthas, and as one who has performed all concluding sacred baths (avabhṛtha).
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (general snāna/darśana context)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A pilgrim steps into sacred waters; dark smoke-like ‘sins’ lift off and dissolve instantly into light; behind, a symbolic wheel of rebirth breaks; above, a garland of many tīrthas and avabhṛtha vessels appears as a single radiant aura.
FAQs
Contact with the Kāśī sacred complex grants swift purification and is framed as a direct aid toward freedom from rebirth.
The verse speaks generally of tīrtha-merit in this Kāśī context, implying Kāśī’s rites equal all tīrthas.
Snāna (ritual bathing) is highlighted, with its fruit compared to bathing at all tīrthas and performing avabhṛtha.