Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 92
अहो लोकः शोकं किमिह सहते हंतहतधीर्विपद्भारैः सारैर्नियतनिधनैर्ध्वसित धनैः । क्षितौ सत्यां काश्यां कथयति शिवो यत्र निधने श्रुतौ किंचिद्भूयः प्रविशति न येनोदरदरीम्
aho lokaḥ śokaṃ kimiha sahate haṃtahatadhīrvipadbhāraiḥ sārairniyatanidhanairdhvasita dhanaiḥ | kṣitau satyāṃ kāśyāṃ kathayati śivo yatra nidhane śrutau kiṃcidbhūyaḥ praviśati na yenodaradarīm
¡Ay! ¿Por qué el mundo soporta aquí el duelo, con el entendimiento abatido, aplastado por el peso de las calamidades y por posesiones que son sólo la “esencia” de la ruina—destinadas a perecer y pronto deshechas? Cuando existe en la tierra la verdadera Kāśī, donde, en el instante de la muerte, Śiva mismo habla al oído; al oírlo, uno no vuelve a entrar en la hendidura del vientre, es decir, no retorna al renacimiento.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta (taraka-upadeśa tradition)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages / devotees seeking the secret of non-rebirth
Scene: A dying devotee in Kāśī lies near a sacred spot; Śiva leans close and whispers the taraka teaching into the ear; behind, the womb-cleft imagery is shown as a dark chasm closing, while light opens upward toward liberation; worldly wealth appears as crumbling heaps.
FAQs
Worldly wealth and security are inherently fragile, so one should seek the highest refuge—liberation—by turning to Kāśī, where Śiva grants saving instruction at life’s end.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), celebrated as a mokṣa-kṣetra where Śiva personally guides the departing soul.
No explicit ritual (snāna, dāna, japa) is prescribed in this verse; it emphasizes the salvific grace of dying in Kāśī and hearing Śiva’s instruction at the final moment.