Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 75
तीर्थांतराणि मनुजः परितोऽवगाह्य हित्वा तनुं कलुषितां दिवि दैवतं स्यात् । वाराणसीपरिसरे तु विसृज्य देहं संदेहभाग्भवति देहदशाप्तयेपि
tīrthāṃtarāṇi manujaḥ parito'vagāhya hitvā tanuṃ kaluṣitāṃ divi daivataṃ syāt | vārāṇasīparisare tu visṛjya dehaṃ saṃdehabhāgbhavati dehadaśāptayepi
Seseorang dapat mandi di banyak tīrtha lain dan, setelah menanggalkan tubuh yang ternoda, menjadi dewa di surga. Namun bila ia melepaskan raga di kawasan Vārāṇasī, ia menjadi ‘diliputi keraguan’—bahkan tentang memperoleh keadaan berjasad lagi, sebab kelahiran kembali terputus di sini.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A pilgrim who has bathed at many tīrthas is shown ascending to a bright svarga; beside it, Kāśī’s precincts show a serene deathbed scene with mantra-hearing, the soul dissolving into light, suggesting no return to embodiment.
FAQs
Other pilgrimages may yield heavenly reward, but Kāśī is associated with a state beyond ordinary rebirth—so much so that ‘another body’ becomes doubtful.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), especially its parisara (sacred vicinity) connected with final release.
Bathing in tīrthas is referenced; the verse contrasts that with the unique consequence of dying in Vārāṇasī’s precincts.