Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 81
वाराणसीह वरणासि सरिद्वरिष्ठा संभेदखेदजननी द्युनदी लसच्छ्रीः । विश्रामभूमिरचलाऽमलमोक्षलक्ष्म्याहैनां विहाय किमुसीदति मूढजंतुः
vārāṇasīha varaṇāsi saridvariṣṭhā saṃbhedakhedajananī dyunadī lasacchrīḥ | viśrāmabhūmiracalā'malamokṣalakṣmyāhaināṃ vihāya kimusīdati mūḍhajaṃtuḥ
Wahai Vārāṇasī—wahai Varaṇā—yang terbaik di antara sungai, aliran surgawi yang bercahaya; engkau yang melarutkan perpecahan dan mengakhiri letih! Engkau tanah perhentian yang tak tergoyahkan, berhias kemurnian keberuntungan mokṣa. Setelah meninggalkannya, mengapa makhluk yang dungu tenggelam dalam kehancuran duniawi?
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Varaṇā (Varuna) within Vārāṇasī
Type: river
Listener: Ṛṣis (frame typical; not explicit)
Scene: A radiant river-goddess Varaṇā, crowned and luminous like a celestial stream, flows into the sacred city; pilgrims find ‘rest’ on stable ghāṭa steps while shadowy figures who ‘abandon her’ are shown slipping into a dark whirlpool labeled saṃsāra.
FAQs
Kāśī is portrayed as a steadfast refuge granting pure liberation; abandoning such a sacred support leads the deluded being back into suffering and decline.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), praised as the supreme sacred place and a river-blessed tīrtha (with reference to Varaṇā and a ‘celestial river’ imagery).
No explicit ritual (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; it functions as a māhātmya-style eulogy urging devotion and attachment to Kāśī as the seat of mokṣa.