Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 47
वरं हि काश्यां तृणवृक्षगुल्मकाश्चरंति पापं न चरंति नान्यतः । वयं चराणां प्रथमा धिगस्तु नो वाराणसींहाद्य विहाय गच्छतः
varaṃ hi kāśyāṃ tṛṇavṛkṣagulmakāścaraṃti pāpaṃ na caraṃti nānyataḥ | vayaṃ carāṇāṃ prathamā dhigastu no vārāṇasīṃhādya vihāya gacchataḥ
“ពិតជាល្អជាងគេគឺស្មៅ ដើមឈើ និងព្រៃព្រឹក្សានៅកាសី: ពួកវា ‘រស់នៅ និងចលនា’ នៅទីនោះ មិនទៅកន្លែងផ្សេងទេ។ តែយើង ដែលជាអ្នកដើរត្រាច់ដ៏មុខមាត់—អៀនខ្លាំងណាស់—ថ្ងៃនេះកំពុងចាកចេញពីវារាណសី ហើយទៅឆ្ងាយ។”
Agastya (deduced from surrounding lament and departure sequence)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and sages
Scene: A pilgrim-sage at Kāśī’s edge looks back with tears, comparing himself unfavorably to grasses and trees that remain rooted in the holy city; the city’s skyline and ghats glow behind.
FAQs
Kāśī is so spiritually supreme that even remaining there is itself a blessing; abandoning it is portrayed as a painful loss.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), praised as the unsurpassed sacred city.
No explicit ritual; the implied counsel is vāsa (dwelling) in Kāśī as a potent spiritual practice.