Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 81
यत्र संति शतं स्तंभा भास्वंतो द्वादशोत्तराः । एकैकं भुवनं धर्तुमष्टाष्टाविति कल्पिताः
yatra saṃti śataṃ staṃbhā bhāsvaṃto dvādaśottarāḥ | ekaikaṃ bhuvanaṃ dhartumaṣṭāṣṭāviti kalpitāḥ
जिथे शंभर तेजस्वी स्तंभ आहेत, माप व तेजात द्वादशाहून अधिक। प्रत्येक स्तंभ अष्ट-अष्ट बलयुक्त असा कल्पिला आहे, जणू तो एकटाच एक-एक भुवन धारण करण्यास समर्थ।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī (implied)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis at Naimiṣāraṇya (typical frame; not explicit here)
Scene: A resplendent celestial hall in Kāśī with one hundred radiant pillars, each colossal and world-bearing, arranged in symmetrical rows; light emanates as if supporting the cosmos.
FAQs
Kāśī’s sacred realm is portrayed as supramundane—its very architecture symbolizes divine support for liberation and dharma.
Avimukta-Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), praised through imagery of an extraordinary divine structure.
None in this verse; it is a eulogy describing the miraculous features of Kāśī.