Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 24
एकां गां यत्र दत्त्वा वै विधिवद्ब्राह्मणाय वै । लभेदयुत गोपुण्यं कस्तां काशीं त्यजेत्सुधीः
ekāṃ gāṃ yatra dattvā vai vidhivadbrāhmaṇāya vai | labhedayuta gopuṇyaṃ kastāṃ kāśīṃ tyajetsudhīḥ
Di tempat yang mana dengan menurut tata cara yang benar menghadiahkan seekor lembu kepada seorang brāhmaṇa, diperoleh pahala setara sepuluh ribu lembu—orang bijaksana manakah akan meninggalkan Kāśī itu?
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration, commonly Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī—Go-dāna (vidhivat)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrimage audience
Scene: On a Kāśī lane near a temple, a donor ceremonially gifts a decorated cow to a brāhmaṇa priest; the cow is garlanded, with a water-pot and kusa grass; behind, a symbolic vision of countless cows appears as a luminous multiplication of merit.
FAQs
Rightful charity in a supreme kṣetra multiplies merit; Kāśī magnifies dharmic giving into vast spiritual gain.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), celebrated as a place where dāna becomes extraordinarily efficacious.
Perform vidhivat go-dāna—gift one cow properly to a brāhmaṇa—said to grant merit equal to gifting ten thousand cows in Kāśī.