Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 2
भूमिष्ठापि न यात्रभूस्त्रिदिवतोप्युच्चैरधःस्थापि या या बद्धा भुवि मुक्तिदास्युरमृतं यस्यां मृता जंतवः । या नित्यं त्रिजगत्पवित्रतटिनी तीरे सुरैः सेव्यते सा काशी त्रिपुरारिराजनगरी पायादपायाज्जगत्
bhūmiṣṭhāpi na yātrabhūstridivatopyuccairadhaḥsthāpi yā yā baddhā bhuvi muktidāsyuramṛtaṃ yasyāṃ mṛtā jaṃtavaḥ | yā nityaṃ trijagatpavitrataṭinī tīre suraiḥ sevyate sā kāśī tripurārirājanagarī pāyādapāyājjagat
Bien qu’établie sur la terre, elle n’est pas un lieu simplement terrestre ; bien qu’au-dessus même du ciel, elle est ici rendue accessible. Les êtres liés au monde y deviennent dispensateurs de délivrance ; ceux qui y meurent obtiennent l’immortalité. Servie sans cesse par les dieux sur la rive du fleuve qui purifie les trois mondes, que cette Kāśī—cité royale de Tripurāri (Śiva)—préserve le monde du malheur.
Narrator/Compiler (Kāśī-stuti at the opening)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Panoramic Kāśī: stepped ghāṭs descending to Gaṅgā, gods (deva-s) offering worship on the riverbank, Śiva as Tripurāri presiding over the city like a luminous guardian; a subtle aura suggests ‘earth yet beyond heaven’.
FAQs
Kāśī is portrayed as a uniquely accessible gateway to mokṣa, where even death becomes a passage to immortality.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), especially the Gaṅgā’s purifying riverbank within the sacred city.
No direct prescription; the verse emphasizes devotional service by gods and the salvific power associated with residing/dying in Kāśī.