Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 32
सदप्सरा यथास्वर्भूस्तत्पुर्यपिसदप्सराः । एकैव पद्मा वैकुंठे तस्य पद्माकराः शतम्
sadapsarā yathāsvarbhūstatpuryapisadapsarāḥ | ekaiva padmā vaikuṃṭhe tasya padmākarāḥ śatam
जसे स्वर्गात सदैव अप्सरा असतात, तसेच त्या नगरीतही सदैव अप्सरा आहेत; वैकुंठात पद्मा एकच, पण त्याच्यासाठी शंभर पद्माकर—कमळसरोवरे—आहेत।
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa context typically Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (sarovara/puṣkariṇī imagery)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: Lotus-filled lakes within Kāśī, with graceful celestial dancers (apsarases) present as if in svarga; a small Vaikuṇṭha vignette shows a single Padmā/Lakṣmī, contrasted with ‘a hundred’ lotus-lakes around Kāśī’s sacred precincts.
FAQs
The mahātmya amplifies Kāśī’s excellence by claiming that what is rare in celestial worlds becomes plentiful in the sacred city.
Kāśī is implied; the verse praises its city-life and abundance through comparisons to Svarga and Vaikuṇṭha.
None; the verse is purely eulogistic, not procedural.