Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 167
स सर्वतीर्थसुस्नातः स सर्वक्रतुदीक्षितः । स दत्तसर्वदानस्तु काशी येन निषेविता
sa sarvatīrthasusnātaḥ sa sarvakratudīkṣitaḥ | sa dattasarvadānastu kāśī yena niṣevitā
യാൾ കാശിയെ സമ്യകമായി സേവിച്ചുവോ, അവൻ തന്നെയാണ് എല്ലാ തീർത്ഥങ്ങളിലും സുസ്നാനം ചെയ്തവൻ; എല്ലാ ക്രതുക്കളിലും ദീക്ഷിതനായവൻ; എല്ലാ തരത്തിലുള്ള ദാനങ്ങളും നൽകിയവൻ।
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrims/seekers hearing Kāśī’s greatness
Scene: A panoramic Kāśī: pilgrims bathing at dawn, others offering lamps, some giving alms, and a central axis leading to Viśvanātha—above them, symbolic icons of many sacrifices and tīrthas dissolve into the single radiance of Kāśī.
FAQs
Serving Kāśī is portrayed as a supreme, concentrated merit that equals the fruits of many pilgrimages, sacrifices, and charities.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) itself is glorified as a preeminent tīrtha and mokṣa-kṣetra.
Not a single ritual, but a promise of fruit: resorting to Kāśī grants the merit of all tīrtha-bathing, sacrificial initiations, and all forms of dāna.