Skandapurana 4.25.74.4

4.25.74.4

prāpya kāśīṃ bhavenmukto jaṃturnānyatrakutracit .. 42 ..
ataeva hi tatkṣetraṃ pavitramaticitrakṛt ..
viśveśituḥ priyanityaṃ viṣvagbrahmāṇḍamaṃḍale .. 43 ..
idameva hi tatkṣetraṃ kuśalapraśnakāraṇam ..
ehyehi dehi me sparśaṃ nijagātrasya suvrata .. 44 ..
api kāśyāḥ samāgacchatsparśavatsparśa iṣyate ..
mayātra tiṣṭhatā nityaṃ kiṃtu tvaṃ tata āgataḥ .. 458 ..
trirātramapiye kāśyāṃ vasaṃti niyateṃdriyāḥ ..
teṣāṃ punaṃti niyataṃ spṛṣṭāścaraṇareṇavaḥ .. 46 ..
tvaṃ tu tatra kṛtāvāsaḥ kṛtapuṇyamahoccayaḥ ..
uttarapravahā snāna jātapiṃgalamūrdhajaḥ .. 47 ..
tava tatra tu yatkuṃḍamagastīśvarasannidhau ..
tatra snātvā ca pītvā ca kṛtasarvodakakriyaḥ .. 48 ..
pitṝnpiṃḍaiḥ samabhyarcya śraddhāśrāddhavidhānataḥ ..
kṛtyakṛtyo bhavejjaṃturvārāṇasyāḥ phalaṃ labhet .. 49 ..
ityuktvā sarvagātrāṇi spaṣṭvā kuṃbhodbhavasya ca ..
skaṃdo'mṛtasarovāri vigāhya sukhamāptavān ..4.1.25.50..
jaya viśveśa netrāṇi vinimīlya vadannapi ..
tataḥ kiṃcitkṣaṇaṃ dadhyau guhaḥ sthāṇusuniścalaḥ .. 51 ..
skaṃde visarjitadhyāne suprasannamanomukhe ..
pratīkṣya vāgavasaraṃ papracchātha munirguham .. 52 ..
.. agastiruvāca .. ..
svāminyathā bhagavatā bhagavatyai purā'kathi ..
vārāṇasyāstu mahimā himaśailabhuve mudā .. 53 ..
tvayā yathā samākarṇi tadutsaṃganivāsinā ..
tathā kathaya ṣaḍvaktra tatkṣetraṃ me'tirocate .. 54 ..
.. skaṃda uvāca .. ..
śṛṇuṣva maitrāvaruṇe yathā bhagavatā'kathi ..
tatkṣetrasyāvimuktasya mama mātuḥ puraḥ purā .. 55 ..
śrutaṃ ca yattadutsaṃge sthitena sthiracetasā ..

having reached Kāśī, a living being is liberated, and nowhere else. 42
For this very reason, that sacred field is purifying and works wondrous marvels, / ever dear to the Lord of the Universe throughout the entire sphere of the cosmos. 43
This sacred field alone is the cause for inquiring after your welfare. / Come, come, give me the touch of your own body, O you of noble vows! 44
A touch is sought as if it were a touch arriving from Kāśī itself, / by me who stay here continually; but you have come from there. 45
Even those who live in Kāśī for three nights with their senses restrained, / the dust of their feet, when touched, surely purifies. 46
You, however, have made your dwelling there, having accumulated a great heap of merit, / your matted hair made tawny by bathing where [Gaṅgā] flows northward. 47
Moreover, at that pool of yours located in the vicinity of Agastīśvara, / having bathed there, drunk water, and performed all water rites, 48
and having worshipped the ancestors with funeral cakes according to the rules of faithful śrāddha, / a being becomes one who has accomplished what is to be done, and obtains the fruit of Vārāṇasī." 49
Having spoken thus and touched all the limbs of the pot-born sage, / Skanda felt pleasure as if plunging into the waters of a lake of nectar. 50
Closing his eyes and uttering "Victory to the Lord of the Universe!", / Guha then meditated for a moment, motionless as a post. 51
When Skanda relinquished his meditation, his mind and face being exceedingly serene, / the sage, awaiting an opportune moment to speak, then questioned Guha. 52
Agastya said:
"O Lord, just as the majesty of Vārāṇasī was formerly related by the Blessed Lord / with delight to the Goddess, the daughter of the snowy mountain, 53
and as it was heard by you while dwelling in her lap, / narrate it in that manner, O six-faced one; that sacred field pleases me greatly." 54
Skanda said:
"Listen, O son of Mitra and Varuṇa, to how it was recounted formerly by the Blessed Lord / concerning that sacred field of Avimukta, in the presence of my mother, 55
and what was heard with a steady mind by me as I sat in her lap.