History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t2.103

v5.c74.t2.103

In several purānas Kāśī or Vārāṇasī has been lauded and described at great length. Vide Matsya 180-185 (411 verses), Kūrma 1.31-35 (verses 226), Lingapurāṇa (pūrvabhāga, chap. 92, verses 190), Padma (Ādikhaṇḍa 33-37, verses 170), Agni 112, Skanda, Kāśīkhaṇḍa, chap 6 ff, Nāradīya (uttara, chap. 48-51). The Kāśīkhaṇḍa alone has about 15000 verses¹⁴¹⁵ on Banaras and its sub-tīrthas. In the Padmapurāṇa the sages are said to have asked Bhṛgu five questions, viz what is the greatness of Kāśī, how it is to be understood, who should resort to it, what is its extent (or boundaries) and by what means it (Kāśī) can be secured. In the Skandapurāṇa, Kāśīkhaṇḍa¹⁴¹⁶ (chap. 26.2-5) the following questions are asked, viz. from what time this holy place Avimukta became highly famous, how it received the name Avimukta, how it became the way to *mokṣa*, how the pool of Maṇikarṇikā became an object of worship to the three worlds, what was there formerly (when) the Ganges was not there, how it came to be called Vārāṇasī, Kāśī, Rudrāvāsa, how it came to be Ānandakānana (the forest of bliss) and then Avimukta and Mahāśmaśāna (the great cemetery).