Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 43
शरीर हीना इव जीवसंघा द्विजा यथा चाध्ययनेन हीनाः । निरुद्यमाः सत्त्वगुणा यथा वै यथोद्यमा भाग्यविवर्जिताश्च
śarīra hīnā iva jīvasaṃghā dvijā yathā cādhyayanena hīnāḥ | nirudyamāḥ sattvaguṇā yathā vai yathodyamā bhāgyavivarjitāśca
صاروا كجماعةٍ من الأحياء بلا أجساد؛ وكالثنائيّي الولادة (dvija) المحرومين من الدرس المقدّس؛ وكصفات السَّتْفَا (sattva) بلا هِمّة؛ وكمن يجتهدون لكنهم محرومون من الحظّ.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa discourse, typically Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A contemplative tableau of allegories: bodiless beings fading like mist; a dvija with unopened Veda manuscript; a luminous sattva figure seated yet inert; a striving traveler walking against wind while fortune (Lakṣmī-like aura) turns away—mirroring the daityas’ helplessness.
FAQs
Without right guidance and dharmic grounding, effort and qualities become ineffective—study (adhyayana) and purposeful action must unite.
No specific tīrtha is mentioned; it is a moral-psychological description within Kāśīkhaṇḍa.
No direct ritual is prescribed; adhyayana (sacred study/recitation) is upheld as a dharmic necessity by implication.