Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 88
यथाभूमितले विप्र पुर्यः संति सहस्रशः । तथा काशी न मंतव्या क्वापि लोकोत्तरात्वियम्
yathābhūmitale vipra puryaḥ saṃti sahasraśaḥ | tathā kāśī na maṃtavyā kvāpi lokottarātviyam
اے وِپر! اگرچہ زمین پر ہزاروں شہر ہیں، مگر کاشی کو کہیں بھی اُن میں محض ایک شہر نہ سمجھو؛ کیونکہ یہ نگری حقیقتاً لوکوں سے ماورا (لوکوتّر) ہے۔
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: A brāhmaṇa interlocutor
Scene: A panoramic vision of Kāśī rising beyond the mundane earth—ghāṭas, temples, and a subtle halo suggesting ‘beyond the worlds’; a brāhmaṇa listener in reverence as the narrator declares its uniqueness.
FAQs
Kāśī is not ordinary geography; it is a transcendent sacred city whose holiness surpasses worldly categories.
Kāśī/Varanasi as a lokottara (otherworldly) sacred city.
None; the verse is doctrinal praise (māhātmya) establishing Kāśī’s unique status.