Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 76
इदं धर्मेश्वराख्यानं यः श्रोष्यति नरोत्तमः । आजन्मसंचितात्पापात्स मुक्तो भवति क्षणात्
idaṃ dharmeśvarākhyānaṃ yaḥ śroṣyati narottamaḥ | ājanmasaṃcitātpāpātsa mukto bhavati kṣaṇāt
جو بہترین انسان دھرمیشر کی اس مقدّس حکایت کو سنتا ہے، وہ جنموں جنموں کے جمع شدہ گناہوں سے ایک ہی لمحے میں آزاد ہو جاتا ہے۔
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration to Agastya)
Tirtha: Dharmeśvara
Type: kshetra
Listener: Kumbhaja (Agastya) is addressed explicitly later in the sequence; the immediate addressee may be Agastya within the chapter’s dialogue frame
Scene: A devoted listener sits with folded hands as a learned narrator recites the Dharmeśvara-māhātmya; behind them rises a Kāśī shrine with a Śiva-liṅga, bells, lamps, and the aura of immediate purification.
FAQs
Hearing the sacred māhātmya of a Kāśī-liṅga (Dharmeśvara) is itself a potent act of purification that destroys long-stored sin.
Dharmeśvara in Kāśī (Varanasi), praised through its māhātmya (greatness narrative).
Śravaṇa (devout listening) of the Dharmeśvarākhyāna is prescribed as a direct means to remove accumulated pāpa.