Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 96
काश्यां वसंति ये धीरा आपंचत्व विनिश्चयाः । जीवन्मुक्तास्तु ते ज्ञेया वंद्याः पूज्यास्त एव हि
kāśyāṃ vasaṃti ye dhīrā āpaṃcatva viniścayāḥ | jīvanmuktāstu te jñeyā vaṃdyāḥ pūjyāsta eva hi
കാശിയിൽ വസിച്ച് പഞ്ചത്വാതീതാവസ്ഥയെ ദൃഢമായി നിർണ്ണയിച്ച ധീരന്മാർ ജീവന്മുക്തരെന്നു അറിയപ്പെടണം; സത്യത്തിൽ അവരേ വന്ദ്യരും പൂജ്യരുമാണ്.
Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and sages (typical frame)
Scene: A serene Kāśī riverside at dawn: steadfast ascetics and householders with calm faces, seated in meditation near a ghat, while devotees offer respectful salutations; Viśvanātha’s presence implied through liṅga iconography and temple spires in the distance.
FAQs
Life in Kāśī, grounded in firm spiritual discernment, culminates in jīvanmukti—liberation while still embodied.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), celebrated as a supreme liberating sacred geography (sthāna).
No specific rite is prescribed here; the verse emphasizes inner certainty and realized wisdom as the mark of sanctity in Kāśī.