Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 59
वरं काशीसमावासी नासीनो द्युसदां पदम् । दुःखांतं लभते पूर्वः सुखांतं लभते परः
varaṃ kāśīsamāvāsī nāsīno dyusadāṃ padam | duḥkhāṃtaṃ labhate pūrvaḥ sukhāṃtaṃ labhate paraḥ
Mieux vaut celui qui demeure à Kāśī que celui qui siège au rang des dieux. Le premier atteint la fin de la souffrance ; le second n’atteint que la fin du plaisir.
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context often Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages/seekers
Scene: Two panels: on one side a radiant deva seated in Svarga amid fleeting pleasures that fade like mist; on the other, a simple Kāśī resident near Viśveśvara and Gaṅgā, with a steady light symbolizing the end of suffering; the Kāśī side is calmer and more enduring.
FAQs
Svarga is temporary, but Kāśī is aligned with liberation; it ends suffering rather than offering pleasure that eventually exhausts.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), praised as superior even to heavenly realms.
No explicit rite; the implied prescription is residence/abiding in Kāśī as a life-orientation.