Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 73
मंदराद्रिगतेनापि क्षेत्रं नैतत्पिनाकिना । विमुक्तं लिंगरूपेण अविमुक्तमतः स्मृतम्
maṃdarādrigatenāpi kṣetraṃ naitatpinākinā | vimuktaṃ liṃgarūpeṇa avimuktamataḥ smṛtam
मंदर पर्वतावर गेले तरी पिनाकी (शिव) यांनी हे क्षेत्र सोडले नाही. लिंगरूपाने ते अविमुक्तच राहिले; म्हणूनच यास ‘अविमुक्त’—कधीही न सोडलेले—असे म्हणतात.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Avimukta
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis/assembly (typical frame; not stated in verse)
Scene: Śiva with Pināka bow departing toward Mandara while a luminous liṅga remains in Kāśī, anchoring the city; a visual split-scene showing ‘movement’ and ‘non-abandonment’ simultaneously.
FAQs
Kāśī’s holiness is grounded in Śiva’s unbroken presence; the divine does not abandon the liberating field.
Avimukta Kṣetra—Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), defined as the place never abandoned by Śiva.
No direct prescription; the verse implies liṅga-worship as the mode through which Śiva remains present in the kṣetra.