Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 23
धर्मस्तु संपत्तिभरैः किलोह्यतेप्यर्थो हि कामैर्बहुदानभोगकैः । अन्यत्रसर्वं स च मोक्ष एकः काश्यां न चान्यत्र तथायथात्र
dharmastu saṃpattibharaiḥ kilohyatepyartho hi kāmairbahudānabhogakaiḥ | anyatrasarvaṃ sa ca mokṣa ekaḥ kāśyāṃ na cānyatra tathāyathātra
ಇತರತ್ರ ಧರ್ಮವೂ ಧನಭಾರದಿಂದ ಕುಗ್ಗುತ್ತದೆ; ಅರ್ಥವೂ ಅನೇಕ ಭೋಗಗಳ ಆಸೆಯಿಂದ ಕಾಮನೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಲುಕುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಮೋಕ್ಷ ಒಂದೇ—ಅದು ಕಾಶಿಯಲ್ಲೇ ಇದೆ, ಬೇರೆಡೆ ಇಲ್ಲ; ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವಂತೆಯೇ.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue, typically Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A split tableau: on one side, merchants and householders weighed down by gold and pleasures; on the other, Kāśī’s quiet ghāts with a renunciant facing Viśvanātha, a single clear path labeled ‘mokṣa’.
FAQs
Among the four aims of life, mokṣa is uniquely and supremely associated with Kāśī’s sacred power.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī/Avimukta) as a special locus of liberation.
No specific ritual is prescribed; the verse contrasts worldly aims with the singular promise of mokṣa in Kāśī.