Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 75
तीर्थांतराणि मनुजः परितोऽवगाह्य हित्वा तनुं कलुषितां दिवि दैवतं स्यात् । वाराणसीपरिसरे तु विसृज्य देहं संदेहभाग्भवति देहदशाप्तयेपि
tīrthāṃtarāṇi manujaḥ parito'vagāhya hitvā tanuṃ kaluṣitāṃ divi daivataṃ syāt | vārāṇasīparisare tu visṛjya dehaṃ saṃdehabhāgbhavati dehadaśāptayepi
L’homme peut se plonger dans bien d’autres tīrthas et, quittant un corps souillé, devenir un deva au ciel. Mais s’il délaisse son corps dans l’enceinte de Vārāṇasī, il devient objet de doute, même quant à l’obtention d’un autre état incarné (car la renaissance y est tranchée).
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A pilgrim who has bathed at many tīrthas is shown ascending to a bright svarga; beside it, Kāśī’s precincts show a serene deathbed scene with mantra-hearing, the soul dissolving into light, suggesting no return to embodiment.
FAQs
Other pilgrimages may yield heavenly reward, but Kāśī is associated with a state beyond ordinary rebirth—so much so that ‘another body’ becomes doubtful.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), especially its parisara (sacred vicinity) connected with final release.
Bathing in tīrthas is referenced; the verse contrasts that with the unique consequence of dying in Vārāṇasī’s precincts.