Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 89
विद्या धनानि सदनानि गजाश्वभृत्याः स्रक्चंदनानि वनिताश्च नितांत रम्याः । स्वर्गोप्यगम्य इह नोद्यमभाजिपुंसि वाराणसीत्वसुलभा शलभादिमुक्तिः । धात्रा धृतानि तुलया तुलनामवैतुं वैकुंठमुख्यभुवनानि च काशिका च । तान्युद्ययुर्लघुतयान्यगियं गुरुत्वात्तस्थौ पुरीह पुरुषार्थचतुष्टयस्य
vidyā dhanāni sadanāni gajāśvabhṛtyāḥ srakcaṃdanāni vanitāśca nitāṃta ramyāḥ | svargopyagamya iha nodyamabhājipuṃsi vārāṇasītvasulabhā śalabhādimuktiḥ | dhātrā dhṛtāni tulayā tulanāmavaituṃ vaikuṃṭhamukhyabhuvanāni ca kāśikā ca | tānyudyayurlaghutayānyagiyaṃ gurutvāttasthau purīha puruṣārthacatuṣṭayasya
学识、财富、宅第、象马仆从、花鬘与檀香、以及极其妩媚的女子——乃至天界——对勤勉之人而言，在此并不难得；然而那在瓦拉纳西如飞蛾脱壳般容易获得的解脱，在别处却并非如此易得。 造物主将毗昆陀等诸胜世界与迦尸迦一并置于天平，以验其轻重；诸世界因轻而上升，而此（迦尸）以其重而安然不动——此地正是具足人之四义：法（dharma）、利（artha）、欲（kāma）与解脱（mokṣa）之城。
Skanda (as narrator/teacher in Kāśī Khaṇḍa, typically addressing Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī / Vārāṇasī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis in Naimiṣāraṇya (frame) / internal interlocutors of Kāśī-māhātmya (contextual)
Scene: Brahmā (Dhātṛ) sets Vaikuṇṭha and other lokas on a great balance against Kāśī; the lokas rise as light while Kāśī remains heavy and steady, radiating with Śiva’s presence; pilgrims and ghāṭs hinted in the background.
FAQs
Worldly attainments—even heaven—are secondary; Kāśī is praised as uniquely potent for mokṣa, embodying and surpassing all four puruṣārthas.
Vārāṇasī/Kāśī (Kāśikā), presented as the supreme sacred city whose spiritual “weight” exceeds even Vaikuṇṭha and other worlds.
No specific rite (snāna, dāna, japa, vrata) is prescribed in this verse; it emphasizes the inherent salvific power of residing in or attaining Kāśī.