Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 75
तीर्थांतराणि मनुजः परितोऽवगाह्य हित्वा तनुं कलुषितां दिवि दैवतं स्यात् । वाराणसीपरिसरे तु विसृज्य देहं संदेहभाग्भवति देहदशाप्तयेपि
tīrthāṃtarāṇi manujaḥ parito'vagāhya hitvā tanuṃ kaluṣitāṃ divi daivataṃ syāt | vārāṇasīparisare tu visṛjya dehaṃ saṃdehabhāgbhavati dehadaśāptayepi
Человек может омовиться во множестве иных тиртх и, оставив нечистое тело, стать девой на небесах. Но если он оставит тело в пределах Варанаси, он становится предметом сомнения — даже относительно обретения нового воплощённого состояния, ибо здесь пресекается новое рождение.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A pilgrim who has bathed at many tīrthas is shown ascending to a bright svarga; beside it, Kāśī’s precincts show a serene deathbed scene with mantra-hearing, the soul dissolving into light, suggesting no return to embodiment.
FAQs
Other pilgrimages may yield heavenly reward, but Kāśī is associated with a state beyond ordinary rebirth—so much so that ‘another body’ becomes doubtful.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), especially its parisara (sacred vicinity) connected with final release.
Bathing in tīrthas is referenced; the verse contrasts that with the unique consequence of dying in Vārāṇasī’s precincts.