Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 90
काशी पुरीमधिवसन्द्रिनरोनरोपिह्मारोप्यमाणैहमान्यहवैकरुद्रः । नानोपसर्गजनिसर्गजदुःखभारैःकर्मापनुद्यसविशेत्परमेशधाम्नि
kāśī purīmadhivasandrinaronaropihmāropyamāṇaihamānyahavaikarudraḥ | nānopasargajanisargajaduḥkhabhāraiḥkarmāpanudyasaviśetparameśadhāmni
Sesiapa yang menetap di kota Kāśī—walau dibebani pelbagai gangguan serta beban duka yang lahir daripada bencana dan keadaan duniawi—akan menanggalkan karmanya lalu memasuki dhāma tertinggi Parameśvara, iaitu Rudra Yang Esa yang layak dimuliakan.
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, typically Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages / internal audience of Kāśī-māhātmya
Scene: A weary pilgrim burdened with symbolic chains of karma and bundles of sorrow enters Kāśī’s sacred lanes; a radiant Rudra/Śiva presence dissolves the chains, opening a luminous path to the supreme abode.
FAQs
Living in Kāśī is praised as a direct means to karmic purification and entry into Śiva’s supreme abode, even for those weighed down by worldly suffering.
The sacred city of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), presented as Parameśvara’s own realm and a foremost place of liberation.
No specific rite (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; the emphasized practice is simply “dwelling in Kāśī” (adhivāsa) as a liberating observance.