Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 49
प्रेषयिष्याम्यहं सर्वान्भवती मोहयिष्यति । इति सम्यग्विजानामि काशि त्वां मोहनोषधिम्
preṣayiṣyāmyahaṃ sarvānbhavatī mohayiṣyati | iti samyagvijānāmi kāśi tvāṃ mohanoṣadhim
ഞാൻ എല്ലാവരെയും അയക്കും; നീ അവരെ മോഹിപ്പിച്ച് ഭ്രമിപ്പിക്കും—ഇതു ഞാൻ നന്നായി അറിയുന്നു. ഹേ കാശീ, നീ മോഹനൗഷധിപോലെയാണ്।
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue-context)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages / narrative interlocutors
Scene: An army or emissaries approach Kāśī but become disoriented; Kāśī appears as a subtle feminine kṣetra-devatā or as an aura around the city, like an ‘herb of enchantment’ that confounds aggression.
FAQs
Kāśī is portrayed as spiritually sovereign—worldly opposition is rendered powerless before her sacred, transformative force.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) itself is directly praised as a uniquely potent sacred realm.
No explicit ritual; the verse is a eulogy of Kāśī’s protective and overpowering sanctity.