Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 81
वाराणसीह वरणासि सरिद्वरिष्ठा संभेदखेदजननी द्युनदी लसच्छ्रीः । विश्रामभूमिरचलाऽमलमोक्षलक्ष्म्याहैनां विहाय किमुसीदति मूढजंतुः
vārāṇasīha varaṇāsi saridvariṣṭhā saṃbhedakhedajananī dyunadī lasacchrīḥ | viśrāmabhūmiracalā'malamokṣalakṣmyāhaināṃ vihāya kimusīdati mūḍhajaṃtuḥ
Ô Vārāṇasī, ô Varaṇā, la plus excellente des rivières, courant céleste à l’éclat resplendissant, qui dissout la séparation et met fin à la lassitude ! Tu es la terre immobile du repos, parée de la pure fortune du mokṣa. T’ayant délaissée, pourquoi donc l’être égaré s’enfoncerait‑il dans la chute du monde ?
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Varaṇā (Varuna) within Vārāṇasī
Type: river
Listener: Ṛṣis (frame typical; not explicit)
Scene: A radiant river-goddess Varaṇā, crowned and luminous like a celestial stream, flows into the sacred city; pilgrims find ‘rest’ on stable ghāṭa steps while shadowy figures who ‘abandon her’ are shown slipping into a dark whirlpool labeled saṃsāra.
FAQs
Kāśī is portrayed as a steadfast refuge granting pure liberation; abandoning such a sacred support leads the deluded being back into suffering and decline.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), praised as the supreme sacred place and a river-blessed tīrtha (with reference to Varaṇā and a ‘celestial river’ imagery).
No explicit ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; it functions as a māhātmya-style eulogy urging devotion and attachment to Kāśī as the seat of mokṣa.