Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 37
न मुक्तिरस्तीह तथा समाधिना स्थिरेंद्रियत्वोज्झित तत्समाधिना । क्रतुक्रियाभिर्न न वेदविद्यया यथा हि काश्यां परिहाय विग्रहम्
na muktirastīha tathā samādhinā sthireṃdriyatvojjhita tatsamādhinā | kratukriyābhirna na vedavidyayā yathā hi kāśyāṃ parihāya vigraham
अशी मुक्ति अन्यत्र मिळत नाही—इंद्रियस्थैर्य नसलेल्या त्या समाधीने नाही, यज्ञांनी नाही, कर्मकांडाने नाही, वेदविद्येनेही नाही; जी काशीमध्ये देहत्याग केल्यावर मिळते.
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (mokṣa-kṣetra; antya-kāla-pradhāna)
Type: kshetra
Scene: An aged seeker on a Kāśī ghāṭa at twilight, senses calm, hearing Śiva’s name; behind him, symbolic images of yajña fires, ritual implements, and Vedic manuscripts fade, while a luminous path of release opens as the body is gently ‘laid down’.
FAQs
The Purāṇic doctrine here elevates Kāśī as uniquely effective for liberation, surpassing ordinary yoga, ritual, and learning.
Kāśī, especially the belief that liberation is attained by leaving the body within the Kāśī-kṣetra.
No positive prescription is given; the verse contrasts common means (samādhi, yajña, Vedic study) with the unique fruit of deha-tyāga in Kāśī.