Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 76
पयोपि यत्रत्यमचिंत्यवैभवं दिविस्थिता साधुसुधाप्यतोमुधा । तथा प्रसूतेस्तु पयोधरे पयो न पीयते पीतमिदं यदि क्वचित्
payopi yatratyamaciṃtyavaibhavaṃ divisthitā sādhusudhāpyatomudhā | tathā prasūtestu payodhare payo na pīyate pītamidaṃ yadi kvacit
Bahkan ‘susu’ yang terdapat di sini pun memiliki keagungan yang tidak terlintas oleh fikiran; maka sudhā amerta di syurga, jika dibandingkan, seakan tidak bernilai. Demikian juga, susu pada payudara ibu yang menyusukan anak tidak lagi diminum setelah merasai yang ini—jika pernah merasainya sekalipun.
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A symbolic scene: a luminous stream of ‘milk-like’ spiritual radiance flowing through Kāśī’s ghats; devas in the sky hold amṛta vessels that appear dim; a mother’s breast-milk metaphor appears as a gentle vignette showing ‘after tasting the higher, the lower is not sought’.
FAQs
The spiritual ‘taste’ of Kāśī surpasses even heavenly delights; worldly and celestial pleasures pale after it.
Kāśī as the supreme sacred realm whose joy eclipses svarga’s nectar.
None; the verse offers a praise-metaphor to communicate Kāśī’s unsurpassed spiritual excellence.