Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 13
अन्यत्राक्षिकवृंदेभ्यः क्वचिन्न परिदेवनम् । आक्षिका एव दृश्यंते यत्र पाशकपाणयः
anyatrākṣikavṛṃdebhyaḥ kvacinna paridevanam | ākṣikā eva dṛśyaṃte yatra pāśakapāṇayaḥ
حيث لا يُسمَع نواحٌ في أيّ موضعٍ إلا بين جماعات القُمّار؛ وحيث لا يُرى إلا القُمّار بأيديهم النَّرْد—فاعلم أنّ ذلك المكان منزوعُ البركة وخالي السَّعد.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta (implied)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A street filled with gamblers clutching dice, their faces tense; the rest of the town eerily silent of true lament—suggesting numbness; contrasted with Kāśī where devotees count beads, perform ārati, and chant on the ghāṭas.
FAQs
A culture dominated by gambling and its sorrows loses auspiciousness; dharma calls for self-control and devotional living.
Kāśī is implicitly glorified as a place of spiritual practice, contrasted with lands ruled by vice.
No explicit ritual is stated; the implied prescription is to abandon gambling and cultivate dharmic disciplines (japa, vrata, worship).