Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 3
अगस्त्य उवाच । साक्षन्मोक्षो न चैतासु पुरीषु प्रियभाषिणि । पुरोद्दिश्यामुमेवार्थमितिहासो मयाश्रुतः
agastya uvāca | sākṣanmokṣo na caitāsu purīṣu priyabhāṣiṇi | puroddiśyāmumevārthamitihāso mayāśrutaḥ
അഗസ്ത്യൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ പ്രിയഭാഷിണീ! ഈ പുരികളിൽ മോക്ഷം സാക്ഷാൽ സ്വയം ലഭിക്കുന്നതല്ല. ഇതേ വിഷയത്തെക്കുറിച്ച് ഞാൻ ഒരു പുരാതന ഇതിഹാസം ശ്രവിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്।
Agastya
Tirtha: Mokṣa-purīs (with Kāśī implied as primary in this khanda)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Lopāmudrā
Scene: Agastya speaks with measured clarity to Lopāmudrā, gently correcting the assumption of instant liberation; a sense of calm authority, with a subtle ‘story-within-story’ opening like a curtain behind them.
FAQs
Liberation depends on causes—dharma, devotion, and divine grace—not merely on physical location; sacred geography is joined to inner fitness.
No single site is praised in this verse; it frames a teaching about ‘these cities’ known for liberation (mukti-purīs).
None; it introduces an explanatory itihāsa (traditional account).