Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 55
स्कंद उवाच । शृणुष्व मैत्रावरुणे यथा भगवताऽकथि । तत्क्षेत्रस्याविमुक्तस्य मम मातुः पुरः पुरा
skaṃda uvāca | śṛṇuṣva maitrāvaruṇe yathā bhagavatā'kathi | tatkṣetrasyāvimuktasya mama mātuḥ puraḥ purā
Skanda bersabda: “Dengarlah, wahai Maitrāvaruṇa (Agastya), sebagaimana Tuhan telah menuturkannya pada zaman dahulu di hadapan ibuku tentang kṣetra Avimukta itu, demikianlah akan aku kisahkan.”}]}
Skanda
Tirtha: Avimukta
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and other sages (frame implied)
Scene: Skanda addresses Agastya by patronymic Maitrāvaruṇa and begins: ‘Listen as the Lord spoke long ago before my mother, about Avimukta.’ The moment is the formal opening of the Kāśī revelation.
FAQs
Kāśī’s greatness is anchored in Śiva’s own proclamation, preserved through divine-family transmission (Śiva → Pārvatī → Skanda).
Avimukta-kṣetra (Kāśī/Vārāṇasī), the place never abandoned by Śiva.
None; it introduces the authoritative source of the forthcoming māhātmya.