Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31
कर्मभूरुह दावाग्नौ संसाराब्ध्यौर्वशोचिपि । निर्वाणलक्ष्मी क्षीराब्धौ सुखसंकेतसद्मनि
karmabhūruha dāvāgnau saṃsārābdhyaurvaśocipi | nirvāṇalakṣmī kṣīrābdhau sukhasaṃketasadmani
हे काशी! तू कर्मवृक्षाला दावानलासारखी आणि संसारसागराला और्वाग्नीप्रमाणे दाह करणारी आहेस. तू मोक्षसुखाचा संकेत देणारे धाम आहेस, जशी निर्वाणलक्ष्मी धारण करणारी क्षीरसागर।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: Personified Kāśī as a radiant kṣetra: a blazing fire consuming a ‘tree of karma’ while beneath an ocean of saṃsāra a submarine fire glows; above, a serene milk-ocean-like luminosity bearing the ‘fortune of nirvāṇa’, with Viśveśvara’s presence implied.
FAQs
Kāśī is praised as a power that burns karma and dries up saṃsāra, pointing the soul toward mokṣa.
Kāśī-kṣetra (Varanasi), celebrated as the supreme liberating field.
No direct rite is prescribed here; the verse is a eulogy establishing Kāśī’s liberating potency.