Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 74
कुटुंबमपि तन्नष्टं नष्टश्चापि प्रतिग्रहः । जीवितं चापि मे नष्टं नष्टा काशीपुरीस्थितिः
kuṭuṃbamapi tannaṣṭaṃ naṣṭaścāpi pratigrahaḥ | jīvitaṃ cāpi me naṣṭaṃ naṣṭā kāśīpurīsthitiḥ
“میرا کنبہ بھی برباد ہو گیا؛ جو ہدیہ میں نے قبول کیا تھا وہ بھی جاتا رہا؛ میری جان بھی گئی—اور کاشی پوری میں میرا قیام بھی کھو گیا۔”
Skanda (narrator); quoted lament of the brāhmaṇa protagonist
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Audience within Kāśī-khaṇḍa frame
Scene: A devastated household: broken pots, scattered grain, empty cradle; the brāhmaṇa stands at a threshold looking back toward Kāśī’s skyline as if exiled; the lost gift is symbolized by a torn pouch; the Ganga flows indifferent yet sacred in the distance.
FAQs
The deepest loss is not wealth but the loss of dharmic standing and the privilege of dwelling in Kāśī.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) is explicitly highlighted as a supremely valuable abode whose loss is spiritually catastrophic.
No explicit ritual; the verse emphasizes ethical purity and the sanctity of residing in Kāśī.