Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 73
मंदराद्रिगतेनापि क्षेत्रं नैतत्पिनाकिना । विमुक्तं लिंगरूपेण अविमुक्तमतः स्मृतम्
maṃdarādrigatenāpi kṣetraṃ naitatpinākinā | vimuktaṃ liṃgarūpeṇa avimuktamataḥ smṛtam
मन्दर पर्वत पर चले जाने पर भी पिनाकी (शिव) ने इस क्षेत्र को नहीं छोड़ा। क्योंकि लिंग-रूप में यह त्यागा नहीं गया, इसलिए यह ‘अविमुक्त’—अर्थात् ‘कभी न छोड़ा गया’—कहलाता है।
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.