Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 75
युगपत्सर्वमेवाशु नष्टं दुर्बुद्धिचेष्टया । न काश्यां मरणं प्राप्तं तस्माद्दुष्टप्रतिग्रहात्
yugapatsarvamevāśu naṣṭaṃ durbuddhiceṣṭayā | na kāśyāṃ maraṇaṃ prāptaṃ tasmādduṣṭapratigrahāt
“ایک ہی لمحے میں میری نادانی کی حرکت سے سب کچھ جلد تباہ ہو گیا؛ اور اس بدکار ہدیہ قبول کرنے کے سبب مجھے کاشی میں مرنے کی سعادت بھی نہ ملی۔”
Skanda (narrator); quoted lament of the brāhmaṇa protagonist
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Audience within Kāśī-khaṇḍa frame
Scene: A rapid montage-like scene: wealth accepted → calamity strikes → the brāhmaṇa, now far from Kāśī, reaches out toward a fading vision of the city; above, a symbolic noose of karma blocks the path to a luminous liṅga representing the desired Kāśī-death.
FAQs
Misguided greed can deprive one of the rarest grace—attaining one’s final moment in Kāśī, famed for liberation-linked merit.
Kāśī is glorified as the uniquely meritorious place where even death is spiritually significant.
No direct ritual; it underscores the dharmic prerequisite—purity of conduct—for benefiting from Kāśī’s salvific promise.