Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 85
महासमाधिसंपन्नैर्वेदांतार्थ निषेविभिः । दुष्प्रापोन्यत्र यो मोक्षः शोच्यैरपि स लभ्यते
mahāsamādhisaṃpannairvedāṃtārtha niṣevibhiḥ | duṣprāponyatra yo mokṣaḥ śocyairapi sa labhyate
That liberation which elsewhere is hard to attain even for those endowed with great samādhi and devoted to the meaning of Vedānta—here it is obtained even by the pitiable and fallen.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Maṇikarṇikā (Kāśī)
Type: ghat
Listener: Purāṇic audience within the Kāśī-māhātmya narration
Scene: A split tableau: on one side austere yogins in caves practicing samādhi and studying Vedānta; on the other, Maṇikarṇikā ghāṭa where a weary, fallen person receives a beam of Śiva’s grace leading upward into serene light.
FAQs
Kāśī is praised as a uniquely merciful field where mokṣa is accessible beyond ordinary spiritual qualifications.
Kāśī is implied as the exceptional place where mokṣa becomes readily attainable.
No explicit ritual; the verse contrasts ordinary yogic/Vedāntic attainment with Kāśī’s special liberating power.