Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 78
आःकाशिवासिजनता ननु वंचिताभूद्भाले विलोचनवतावनितार्धभाजा । आदाय यत्सन्ध्यकृतभाजनमिष्टदेहं निर्वाणमात्रमपवर्जयतापुनर्भु
āḥkāśivāsijanatā nanu vaṃcitābhūdbhāle vilocanavatāvanitārdhabhājā | ādāya yatsandhyakṛtabhājanamiṣṭadehaṃ nirvāṇamātramapavarjayatāpunarbhu
Than ôi! Dân cư trú tại Kāśī dường như đã bị thiệt thòi—bởi Đấng Tam Nhãn, Đấng mang Nữ Thần làm nửa thân mình; Ngài đã lấy đi thân thể yêu quý được tạo thành từ lễ bái sandhyā của họ, và chỉ ban Niết-bàn (mokṣa), ngăn lại sự tái sinh.
Skanda (deduced from Kāśī-khaṇḍa dialogue context)
Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis at Naimiṣāraṇya (typical frame; not explicit here)
Scene: A lamenting poet-devotee addresses Kāśī’s residents: Śiva (three-eyed, Ardhanārīśvara aspect) ‘takes away’ the beloved body born of sandhyā-merit and bestows only liberation; the body is shown as a fading golden silhouette dissolving into light at the ghāṭa.
FAQs
In Kāśī, Śiva’s grace culminates not in continued worldly reward but in mokṣa itself—liberation that ends rebirth—showing the highest fruit of dharma is freedom from saṃsāra.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) is praised as a mokṣa-kṣetra where Śiva grants final release, even beyond the usual cycle of merit and rebirth.
Sandhyā worship (sandhyā-vandana/twilight rites) is referenced as a formative act of devotion whose ultimate culmination, in the Kāśī context, is Śiva-bestowed liberation.