Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 76
इदं धर्मेश्वराख्यानं यः श्रोष्यति नरोत्तमः । आजन्मसंचितात्पापात्स मुक्तो भवति क्षणात्
idaṃ dharmeśvarākhyānaṃ yaḥ śroṣyati narottamaḥ | ājanmasaṃcitātpāpātsa mukto bhavati kṣaṇāt
जो उत्तम पुरुष धर्मेश्वराचे हे पावन आख्यान ऐकतो, तो जन्मोजन्मी साचलेल्या पापांतून क्षणात मुक्त होतो।
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration to Agastya)
Tirtha: Dharmeśvara
Type: kshetra
Listener: Kumbhaja (Agastya) is addressed explicitly later in the sequence; the immediate addressee may be Agastya within the chapter’s dialogue frame
Scene: A devoted listener sits with folded hands as a learned narrator recites the Dharmeśvara-māhātmya; behind them rises a Kāśī shrine with a Śiva-liṅga, bells, lamps, and the aura of immediate purification.
FAQs
Hearing the sacred māhātmya of a Kāśī-liṅga (Dharmeśvara) is itself a potent act of purification that destroys long-stored sin.
Dharmeśvara in Kāśī (Varanasi), praised through its māhātmya (greatness narrative).
Śravaṇa (devout listening) of the Dharmeśvarākhyāna is prescribed as a direct means to remove accumulated pāpa.