Skandapurana 4.25.74.3

4.25.74.3

āyurmṛgo mṛgayunā kṛtalakṣyo hi mṛtyunā .. 27 ..
sāpadaṃ saṃpadaṃ jñātvā sāpāyaṃ kāyamuccakaiḥ ..
capalā capalaṃ cāyurmatvā kāśīṃ samāśrayet .. 28 ..
yāvannaityāyuṣaścāṃtastāvatkāśī na mucyate ..
kālaḥ kalālavasyāpi saṃkhyātuṃ naiva vismaret .. 29 ..
jarānikaṭanikṣiptā bādhaṃte vyādhayo bhṛśam ..
tathāpi deho nāneho nāho kāśīṃ samīhate .. 4.1.25.30 ..
tīrthasnānena japyena paropakaraṇoktibhiḥ ..
vinārthaṃ labhyate dharmo dharmādarthaḥ svayaṃ bhavet .. 31 ..
vinaivārthārjanopāyaṃ dharmādartho bhaveddhruvam ..
ato'rthaciṃtāmutsṛjya dharmamekaṃ samāśrayet .. 32 ..
dharmādartho'rthataḥ kāmaḥ kāmātsarvasukhodayaḥ ..
svargopi sulabho dharmātkāśye kā durlabhā param .. 33 ..
upāyatrayamevātra sthāṇurnirvāṇakāraṇam..
śarvāṇyagreva bhāṇāddhā parinirṇīya sarvataḥ .. 34 ..
pūrvaṃ pāśupato yogastatastīrthaṃ sitāsitam ..
tatopyekamanāyāsamavimuktaṃ vimuktidam .. 35 ..
śrīśaila himaśailādyā nānānyāyatanāni ca ..
tridaṃḍadhāraṇaṃcāpi saṃnyāsaḥ sarvakarmaṇām .. 36 ..
tapāṃsi nānārūpāṇi vratāni niyamā yamāḥ ..
siṃdhūnāmapi saṃbhedā araṇyāni bahūnyapi .. 37 ..
mānasānyapi bhaumāni dhārātīrthādikāni ca ..
ūṣarāścāpi pīṭhāni hyacchinnāmnāyapāṭhanam.. 38 ..
japaścāpi manūnāṃ ca tathā'gnihavanāni ca ..
dānāni nānākratavo devatopāsanāni ca .. 39 ..
trirātraṃ paṃcarātrāṇi sāṃkhyayogādayastathā ..
viṣṇorārādhanaṃ śreṣṭhaṃ muktaye'bhihitaṃ kila .. 4.1.25.40 ..
puryaścāpi samākhyātānṛtajaṃtu vimuktidā ..
kaivalyasādhanānīha bhavaṃtyeva viniścitam .. 41 ..
etāni yāni proktāni kāśīprāptikarāṇi ca ..

the deer of life has indeed been made a target by the hunter of death. 27
Knowing wealth to be accompanied by calamity, and the body to be exceedingly fragile, / and knowing this flickering life to be inconstant, one should take refuge in Kāśī. 28
So long as the end of one's life has not arrived, one should not leave Kāśī; / Time does not forget to count even a fraction of a moment. 29
Stationed close to old age, diseases torment [a person] violently; / even so, the body does not long for Kāśī; day after day, it does not seek it! 30
Through ritual bathing at sacred fords, through japa, and through words that assist others, / dharma is attained without wealth; and from dharma, wealth arises on its own. 31
Without any other means of acquiring wealth, wealth surely arises from dharma; / therefore, abandoning anxiety about wealth, one should take refuge in dharma alone. 32
From dharma comes wealth, from wealth comes desire, and from desire arises all happiness; / even heaven is easily attained through dharma; what, then, is difficult [to attain] beyond Kāśī? 33
Here Sthāṇu truly declared three means as the cause of nirvāṇa / in the presence of Śarvāṇī, having thoroughly determined everything everywhere: 34
First is the Pāśupata yoga; next is the black-and-white sacred ford [at Prayāga]; / and then the one effortless giver of liberation, Avimukta. 35
Śrīśaila, the snow-mountain, and various other shrines; / the bearing of the triple staff, and the renunciation of all actions; 36
austerities of various kinds, observances, restraints, and disciplines; / confluences of rivers, and many forests; 37
mental [sacred fords], earthly ones, waterfalls and the like; / saline lands, seats of power, and the uninterrupted recitation of sacred scripture; 38
the repetition of mantras, offerings into the sacred fire, / gifts, various sacrifices, and worship of the deities; 39
the trirātra, the pañcarātra traditions, and likewise Sāṃkhya and Yoga; / the supreme adoration of Viṣṇu is indeed proclaimed for liberation; 40
and cities are also proclaimed as bestowing liberation even on deceitful beings; / these indeed are certainly instruments for attaining kaivalya here. 41
All these that have been declared are also means of attaining Kāśī;