Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 75
न स्वः पुरी सा त्वनया पुरासमं समंजसापि प्रतिसाम्यमावहेत । प्रबंधभेदाद्व्यतिरिक्तपुस्तकप्रतिर्यथा सल्लिपिभेदभंगतः
na svaḥ purī sā tvanayā purāsamaṃ samaṃjasāpi pratisāmyamāvaheta | prabaṃdhabhedādvyatiriktapustakapratiryathā sallipibhedabhaṃgataḥ
La cité du ciel ne saurait, même avec une comparaison raisonnable, atteindre l’égalité avec cette cité très ancienne; car, de même qu’une copie d’un autre livre ne peut égaler l’original à cause des différences de composition—et parce que même la plus belle écriture varie—ainsi en est-il ici.
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A poetic comparison tableau: radiant Kāśī as an ancient, living ‘original manuscript’ while a distant celestial city appears as a beautiful yet secondary ‘copy’; scribes, palm-leaf folios, and differing scripts symbolize incommensurability.
FAQs
Kāśī’s sanctity is unique and non-transferable; it is not merely ‘like heaven’ but beyond comparison.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as the primordial and unsurpassed sacred city.
None; the verse serves as a doctrinal praise (māhātmya) establishing Kāśī’s supremacy.