Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 91
मुक्तिदा न मही सा मे वाराणस्यां महीयसी । तन्मही रजसा साम्यं त्रिलोक्यपि न चोद्वहेत्
muktidā na mahī sā me vārāṇasyāṃ mahīyasī | tanmahī rajasā sāmyaṃ trilokyapi na codvahet
Mảnh đất của Ta tại Vārāṇasī thật chí tôn; đó không chỉ là ‘đất’—mà là đất ban giải thoát. Dẫu ba cõi cũng không sánh nổi một hạt bụi của nơi ấy.
Śiva (probable; first-person possessive ‘my’ and liberation-granting Kāśī motif)
Tirtha: Avimukta Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrims/seekers within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame
Scene: Cosmic comparison scene: the three worlds are shown as vast spheres, yet a tiny handful of Kāśī’s dust shines brighter, indicating its incomparable liberating potency; pilgrims bow to the ground of Vārāṇasī.
FAQs
Kāśī is exalted as intrinsically liberating; even contact with its dust is portrayed as spiritually incomparable.
Vārāṇasī/Kāśī as a whole, with special emphasis on its sanctified ground.
No specific rite is prescribed; the verse establishes the exceptional sanctity that undergirds pilgrimage, worship, and dāna in Kāśī.