Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 96
काश्यां वसंति ये धीरा आपंचत्व विनिश्चयाः । जीवन्मुक्तास्तु ते ज्ञेया वंद्याः पूज्यास्त एव हि
kāśyāṃ vasaṃti ye dhīrā āpaṃcatva viniścayāḥ | jīvanmuktāstu te jñeyā vaṃdyāḥ pūjyāsta eva hi
Mereka yang teguh dan bijak tinggal di Kāśī, setelah memastikan dengan mantap keadaan yang melampaui pañcatva (lima unsur duniawi), hendaklah dikenal sebagai jīvanmukta—merdeka selagi hidup; sungguh merekalah yang patut dihormati dan dipuja.
Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and sages (typical frame)
Scene: A serene Kāśī riverside at dawn: steadfast ascetics and householders with calm faces, seated in meditation near a ghat, while devotees offer respectful salutations; Viśvanātha’s presence implied through liṅga iconography and temple spires in the distance.
FAQs
Life in Kāśī, grounded in firm spiritual discernment, culminates in jīvanmukti—liberation while still embodied.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), celebrated as a supreme liberating sacred geography (sthāna).
No specific rite is prescribed here; the verse emphasizes inner certainty and realized wisdom as the mark of sanctity in Kāśī.