Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 90
काशी पुरीमधिवसन्द्रिनरोनरोपिह्मारोप्यमाणैहमान्यहवैकरुद्रः । नानोपसर्गजनिसर्गजदुःखभारैःकर्मापनुद्यसविशेत्परमेशधाम्नि
kāśī purīmadhivasandrinaronaropihmāropyamāṇaihamānyahavaikarudraḥ | nānopasargajanisargajaduḥkhabhāraiḥkarmāpanudyasaviśetparameśadhāmni
Sinumang nananahan sa lungsod ng Kāśī—kahit siya’y pasan ang sari-saring kapighatian at ang mabigat na bigkis ng dalamhating isinilang sa maraming kapahamakan at kalagayang makamundo—ay inaalis ang kanyang mga karma at pumapasok sa kataas-taasang tahanan ni Parameśvara, ang iisang Rudra na karapat-dapat sa lahat ng paggalang.
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, typically Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages / internal audience of Kāśī-māhātmya
Scene: A weary pilgrim burdened with symbolic chains of karma and bundles of sorrow enters Kāśī’s sacred lanes; a radiant Rudra/Śiva presence dissolves the chains, opening a luminous path to the supreme abode.
FAQs
Living in Kāśī is praised as a direct means to karmic purification and entry into Śiva’s supreme abode, even for those weighed down by worldly suffering.
The sacred city of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), presented as Parameśvara’s own realm and a foremost place of liberation.
No specific rite (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; the emphasized practice is simply “dwelling in Kāśī” (adhivāsa) as a liberating observance.