Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 71
लोपामुद्रे न सा मुद्रा कापीह जगतीतले । वाराणस्याः प्रदृश्येत तत्कर्ता न यतो विधिः
lopāmudre na sā mudrā kāpīha jagatītale | vārāṇasyāḥ pradṛśyeta tatkartā na yato vidhiḥ
ഹേ ലോപാമുദ്രേ! ഈ ഭൂമിയിൽ ഇത്തരമൊരു മുദ്രാ-ചിഹ്നം എവിടെയും കാണപ്പെടുന്നില്ല. ഇതു വാരാണസിയുടെ ദിവ്യലക്ഷണം; സാധാരണവിധിയോ കർത്താവോ ഇതിനെ നിർമ്മിക്കാനാവില്ല.
Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Vārāṇasī / Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Lopāmudrā
Scene: A sage addresses Lopāmudrā, gesturing toward a mystical ‘seal-mark’ of Kāśī—an otherworldly emblem hovering over the sacred cityscape, suggesting divine craftsmanship beyond human hands.
FAQs
Kāśī is presented as divinely distinguished—its signs are not products of ordinary human arrangement, but of sacred destiny.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), praised as uniquely marked among places on earth.
No explicit rite is given here; the verse establishes Kāśī’s exceptional sanctity as a foundation for later practices.