Skandapurana 4.25.74.4

4.25.74.4

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.