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
ಕಾಶಿಯ ತೃಣ, ವೃಕ್ಷ, ಗುಲ್ಮಗಳು ನಿಜಕ್ಕೂ ಧನ್ಯ—ಅವು ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂಚರಿಸಿ ಅಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಇರುತ್ತವೆ, ಬೇರೆಡೆ ಹೋಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ ನಾವು ಸಂಚಾರಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮೊದಲವರು; ಧಿಕ್ಕಾರ ನಮಗೆ, ಇಂದು ವಾರಾಣಸಿಯನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಹೊರಟಿದ್ದೇವೆ.
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.