Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 78
आःकाशिवासिजनता ननु वंचिताभूद्भाले विलोचनवतावनितार्धभाजा । आदाय यत्सन्ध्यकृतभाजनमिष्टदेहं निर्वाणमात्रमपवर्जयतापुनर्भु
āḥkāśivāsijanatā nanu vaṃcitābhūdbhāle vilocanavatāvanitārdhabhājā | ādāya yatsandhyakṛtabhājanamiṣṭadehaṃ nirvāṇamātramapavarjayatāpunarbhu
Aduhai! Penduduk Kāśī seakan-akan telah terampas—oleh Tuhan Bermata Tiga yang memikul Dewi sebagai separuh tubuh-Nya; Baginda mengambil jasad tercinta yang terbentuk daripada ibadat sandhyā mereka, lalu mengurniakan hanya nirvāṇa (mokṣa), menahan kelahiran semula.
Skanda (deduced from Kāśī-khaṇḍa dialogue context)
Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis at Naimiṣāraṇya (typical frame; not explicit here)
Scene: A lamenting poet-devotee addresses Kāśī’s residents: Śiva (three-eyed, Ardhanārīśvara aspect) ‘takes away’ the beloved body born of sandhyā-merit and bestows only liberation; the body is shown as a fading golden silhouette dissolving into light at the ghāṭa.
FAQs
In Kāśī, Śiva’s grace culminates not in continued worldly reward but in mokṣa itself—liberation that ends rebirth—showing the highest fruit of dharma is freedom from saṃsāra.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) is praised as a mokṣa-kṣetra where Śiva grants final release, even beyond the usual cycle of merit and rebirth.
Sandhyā worship (sandhyā-vandana/twilight rites) is referenced as a formative act of devotion whose ultimate culmination, in the Kāśī context, is Śiva-bestowed liberation.