Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 51
क्व च तादृक्तपांसीह क्व तादृग्योग उत्तमः । यादृग्भिः प्राप्यते मुक्तिः काश्यां मोक्षोत्तमोत्तमः
kva ca tādṛktapāṃsīha kva tādṛgyoga uttamaḥ | yādṛgbhiḥ prāpyate muktiḥ kāśyāṃ mokṣottamottamaḥ
Saan matatagpuan ang mga pagpapakasakit na tulad nito? Nasaan ang yoga na napakahusay? Sapagkat ang kalayaang nakamit sa pamamagitan ng ganitong paraan—ang Kashi ay nagkakaloob ng pinakamataas na moksha.
Skanda (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue context)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A comparative tableau: ascetics performing fierce tapas and yogins in meditation fade into the background, while Kāśī shines in the foreground with Viśveśvara’s temple—signaling that the city grants the supreme mokṣa beyond those efforts.
FAQs
Kāśī’s liberating power surpasses even extraordinary tapas and the highest yoga.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), praised as the giver of the सर्वोत्तम mokṣa.
No explicit rite; the verse extols Kāśī’s unique capacity to bestow liberation beyond ordinary disciplines.