Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 77
वाराणसी परिसरे तनुमिष्टदात्रीं धर्मार्थकामनिलयामहहाविसृज्य । इष्टं पदं किमपि हृष्टतरोभिलष्य लाभोस्तुमूलमपि नो यदवाप शून्यम्
vārāṇasī parisare tanumiṣṭadātrīṃ dharmārthakāmanilayāmahahāvisṛjya | iṣṭaṃ padaṃ kimapi hṛṣṭatarobhilaṣya lābhostumūlamapi no yadavāpa śūnyam
ಅಯ್ಯೋ! ವಾರಾಣಸೀ ಪರಿಧಿಯಲ್ಲಿ—ಇಷ್ಟದಾತ್ರೀ, ಧರ್ಮಾರ್ಥಕಾಮಗಳ ನಿವಾಸ—ಆ ದೇಹವನ್ನು ತ್ಯಜಿಸಿದ ಜೀವನು ಅಪಾರ ಹರ್ಷದಿಂದ ಯಾವುದೋ ಪ್ರಿಯ ಪರಮಪದವನ್ನು ಬಯಸುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಲಾಭವಾಗಲಿ; ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಅದರ ಮೂಲವೂ ಶೂನ್ಯವಲ್ಲ—ನಿಶ್ಚಯವಾಗಿ ಅದು ಲಭಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A devotee, having renounced the body in Kāśī, is shown moving beyond symbols of dharma (scripture), artha (coins), and kāma (garlands) toward a radiant, serene ‘iṣṭa pada’; the city’s ghāṭas glow behind as assurance of attainment.
FAQs
Kāśī is celebrated as a sure ground of attainment—supporting worldly puruṣārthas and pointing beyond them to a cherished highest state.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), especially its parisara (sacred precincts) as a giver of desired fruits and higher realization.
None explicitly; the verse centers on the consequence of relinquishing the body in Vārāṇasī and the certainty of attainment.