Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 73
मंदराद्रिगतेनापि क्षेत्रं नैतत्पिनाकिना । विमुक्तं लिंगरूपेण अविमुक्तमतः स्मृतम्
maṃdarādrigatenāpi kṣetraṃ naitatpinākinā | vimuktaṃ liṃgarūpeṇa avimuktamataḥ smṛtam
મંદર પર્વત પર ગયા છતાં પિનાકી (શિવ)એ આ ક્ષેત્ર છોડ્યું નથી. લિંગરૂપે તે અવિમુક્ત રહ્યું; તેથી જ તેનું નામ ‘અવિમુક્ત’—કદી ન ત્યજાયેલું—પ્રસિદ્ધ છે.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Avimukta
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis/assembly (typical frame; not stated in verse)
Scene: Śiva with Pināka bow departing toward Mandara while a luminous liṅga remains in Kāśī, anchoring the city; a visual split-scene showing ‘movement’ and ‘non-abandonment’ simultaneously.
FAQs
Kāśī’s holiness is grounded in Śiva’s unbroken presence; the divine does not abandon the liberating field.
Avimukta Kṣetra—Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), defined as the place never abandoned by Śiva.
No direct prescription; the verse implies liṅga-worship as the mode through which Śiva remains present in the kṣetra.