Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 46
या मे मुक्तिपुरी काशी सर्वाभ्योपि गरीयसी । आधिपत्यं च तस्यास्ते कालराज सदैव हि
yā me muktipurī kāśī sarvābhyopi garīyasī | ādhipatyaṃ ca tasyāste kālarāja sadaiva hi
وہ کاشی—میری مکتی پوری، جو سب بستیوں سے بڑھ کر ہے—اس پر، اے کال راج، تیرا اقتدار یقیناً ہمیشہ قائم رہے گا۔
Śiva (deduced)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Mukti-purī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Kālarāja / Yama
Scene: Śiva indicates the luminous city of Kāśī while addressing Kālarāja; the city appears as a mandala with ghats and temples, encircled by protective deities signifying eternal jurisdiction.
FAQs
Kāśī is framed as a supreme liberation-field, governed by Bhairava under Śiva’s ordinance.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), explicitly called ‘muktipurī’—the city that grants mokṣa.
No direct ritual is stated; the verse establishes sacred jurisdiction—Bhairava’s perpetual guardianship of Kāśī.