Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 35
स्मरंति ये मामपवर्गमंडपे किंचिद्यथाशक्ति ददत्यपि स्वम् । शृण्वंति पुण्याश्च कथाः क्षणं स्थिरास्ते कोटिगोदानफलं भजंति
smaraṃti ye māmapavargamaṃḍape kiṃcidyathāśakti dadatyapi svam | śṛṇvaṃti puṇyāśca kathāḥ kṣaṇaṃ sthirāste koṭigodānaphalaṃ bhajaṃti
முக்திமண்டபத்தில் என்னை நினைந்து, தம் திறனுக்கேற்ப தம்மிடமிருந்து சிறிதளவாவது தானம் செய்து, ஒரு கணமாவது நிலைத்து புண்ணியக் கதைகளை கேட்போர்—கோடி கோதானத்தின் பலனை அடைவர்.
Śiva
Tirtha: Apavarga-maṇḍapa
Type: kshetra
Listener: Acyuta (Viṣṇu)
Scene: Inside a luminous pavilion, a devotee remembers the Lord (hands at heart), offers a small gift to a mendicant, and listens to a reciter reading sacred कथा; behind them, a symbolic herd of countless cows appears as a merit-vision.
FAQs
Small offerings, mindful remembrance, and attentive listening become immense merit when performed in Kāśī’s liberation-charged sacred space.
The Apavarga-maṇḍapa (Liberation Pavilion) within the Kāśī sacred complex.
Smaraṇa (remembrance), modest dāna (charity) according to capacity, and śravaṇa (listening) to holy kathās—even briefly but attentively.