Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31
न यत्र काश्यां कलिकालजं भयं न यत्र काश्यां मरणात्पुनर्भवः । न यत्र काश्यां कलुषोद्भवं भयं कथं विभो सा नयनातिथिर्भवेत्
na yatra kāśyāṃ kalikālajaṃ bhayaṃ na yatra kāśyāṃ maraṇātpunarbhavaḥ | na yatra kāśyāṃ kaluṣodbhavaṃ bhayaṃ kathaṃ vibho sā nayanātithirbhavet
ಕಾಶಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಲಿಯುಗಜನ್ಯ ಭಯವಿಲ್ಲ, ಕಾಶಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮರಣಾನಂತರ ಪುನರ್ಭವವಿಲ್ಲ; ಕಾಶಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಲుషದಿಂದ ಹುಟ್ಟುವ ಭಯವೂ ಇಲ್ಲ। ಹೇ ವಿಭೋ! ಆ ನಗರಿ ನನ್ನ ಕಣ್ಣುಗಳಿಗೆ ಪ್ರಿಯ ಅತಿಥಿಯಾಗದೆ ಹೇಗೆ?
Pārvatī
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śiva (Vibho)
Scene: A vision of Kāśī as an ‘abhaya’ city: luminous ghats, purified atmosphere, and a devotee gazing with longing—‘guest of my eyes’—while unseen forces of Kali and impurity are rendered powerless at the city’s boundary.
FAQs
Kāśī is extolled as a refuge beyond Kali-yuga’s terrors, promising release from the cycle of rebirth.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), praised as uniquely free from Kali-born fear and post-death rebirth.
No explicit ritual is stated; the verse emphasizes darśana (beholding Kāśī) as a devotional aim.