Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 57
जनन्या सह नो काशी लभेदुपमितिं क्वचित् । धारयेज्जननी गर्भे काशी गर्भाद्विमोचयेत्
jananyā saha no kāśī labhedupamitiṃ kvacit | dhārayejjananī garbhe kāśī garbhādvimocayet
Kāśī không thể đem so sánh, dù với chính mẹ ruột. Mẹ mang con trong dạ, còn Kāśī giải thoát hữu tình khỏi “bào thai” của những lần sinh tử nối tiếp.
Skanda (māhātmya exposition)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Agastya
Scene: Two-part contrast: a human mother holding a child (warm, earthly), and Kāśī as radiant city-mother opening a gate of light; a symbolic ‘womb’ (dark enclosure/lotus-bud) dissolves as the soul steps into freedom.
FAQs
Earthly motherhood gives bodily birth, but Kāśī grants the higher deliverance—release from repeated birth.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), extolled as incomparable because it leads beings beyond rebirth.
None explicitly; the teaching supports the ideal of seeking moksha through Kāśī’s sacred presence.