Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 75
श्रेयसां साधनान्यत्र पापघ्नान्यपि सर्वथा । परं हि परमश्चैष नियमो यस्त्वया कृतः
śreyasāṃ sādhanānyatra pāpaghnānyapi sarvathā | paraṃ hi paramaścaiṣa niyamo yastvayā kṛtaḥ
येथे परम श्रेयाची साधने व सर्वथा पापहर आचरणेही आहेत; तरीही तू केलेला हा नियम सर्वोच्च, अत्यंत परम आहे.
Śiva (Īśvara)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (typical frame)
Scene: A serene ascetic/pilgrim in Kāśī receives instruction that many practices exist, yet a particular niyama is supreme; the city’s ghāṭs and a Śiva shrine form the backdrop.
FAQs
Among many meritorious disciplines, one particular observance is elevated as the highest—signaling a hierarchy of values rooted in devotion and right offering.
Kāśī is the textual setting; the verse contributes to Kāśī’s mahātmya by presenting it as a place where supreme dharma is taught by Śiva.
The “supreme niyama” is referenced but not yet defined in this verse; the next verse clarifies it in terms of eating only after darśana/offerings.