Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31
कर्मभूरुह दावाग्नौ संसाराब्ध्यौर्वशोचिपि । निर्वाणलक्ष्मी क्षीराब्धौ सुखसंकेतसद्मनि
karmabhūruha dāvāgnau saṃsārābdhyaurvaśocipi | nirvāṇalakṣmī kṣīrābdhau sukhasaṃketasadmani
हे काशी! कर्मभूरुहस्य दावाग्निरिव, संसाराब्धेः और्वाग्निरिव; निर्वाणलक्ष्म्या आश्रयभूते क्षीराब्धौ इव, मोक्षसुखसंकेतसद्मनि त्वयि नमः।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: Personified Kāśī as a radiant kṣetra: a blazing fire consuming a ‘tree of karma’ while beneath an ocean of saṃsāra a submarine fire glows; above, a serene milk-ocean-like luminosity bearing the ‘fortune of nirvāṇa’, with Viśveśvara’s presence implied.
FAQs
Kāśī is praised as a power that burns karma and dries up saṃsāra, pointing the soul toward mokṣa.
Kāśī-kṣetra (Varanasi), celebrated as the supreme liberating field.
No direct rite is prescribed here; the verse is a eulogy establishing Kāśī’s liberating potency.