Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 36
अंतःपुरि प्रविष्टोभूत्स द्विजो मुनिसत्तम । तच्छरीराद्बहिर्भूतस्त्वहं पापैः समं क्षणात्
aṃtaḥpuri praviṣṭobhūtsa dvijo munisattama | taccharīrādbahirbhūtastvahaṃ pāpaiḥ samaṃ kṣaṇāt
ഹേ മുനിസത്തമ! ആ ബ്രാഹ്മണൻ അന്തഃപുരി-പരിസരത്തിൽ പ്രവേശിച്ച ഉടനെ, ഞാൻ പാപങ്ങളോടുകൂടി ക്ഷണത്തിൽ തന്നെ അവന്റെ ശരീരത്തിൽ നിന്ന് പുറത്താക്കപ്പെട്ടു।
Preta (a departed spirit), speaking to a sage within Skanda’s Kāśī narrative frame
Tirtha: Antahpura of Kāśī (inner Avimukta zone)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Muni (munisattama)
Scene: As the brāhmaṇa steps into Kāśī’s inner precincts, a radiant unseen force ejects a smoky preta-form and clinging black sin-masses from his body; the expelled forms recoil toward the outskirts while the brāhmaṇa stands momentarily stunned in purified light.
FAQs
Kāśī’s sanctity is portrayed as immediately purifying: harmful presences and sins cannot endure within its inner sacred bounds.
Kāśī’s ‘antaḥpurī’ (core sacred precinct) is praised as a spiritually protected zone.
No specific rite; the emphasis is on the transformative power of entering Kāśī’s sacred inner precinct.