Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 78
आःकाशिवासिजनता ननु वंचिताभूद्भाले विलोचनवतावनितार्धभाजा । आदाय यत्सन्ध्यकृतभाजनमिष्टदेहं निर्वाणमात्रमपवर्जयतापुनर्भु
āḥkāśivāsijanatā nanu vaṃcitābhūdbhāle vilocanavatāvanitārdhabhājā | ādāya yatsandhyakṛtabhājanamiṣṭadehaṃ nirvāṇamātramapavarjayatāpunarbhu
唉！居住在迦尸（Kāśī）的人们，似乎被那三目之主——以女神为半身者——所“亏待”；因为他夺去他们由暮时礼拜（sandhyā）所成就的可爱之身，只赐予涅槃（nirvāṇa），并遮止再生。
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.