Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 15
औषधेष्वेव यत्रास्ति कुष्ठयोगो न मानवे । वेधोप्यंतःसुरत्नेषु शूलं मूर्तिकरेषु वै
auṣadheṣveva yatrāsti kuṣṭhayogo na mānave | vedhopyaṃtaḥsuratneṣu śūlaṃ mūrtikareṣu vai
حيث يوجدُ الجُذامُ في الأدوية وحدها لا في البشر؛ وحيث تُثقب حتى الجواهرُ النفيسةُ الكامنة في الداخل؛ وحيث يُصيب صُنّاعُ التماثيل المقدّسة ألمٌ كالرُّمح—فذلك انقلابٌ في النظام يدلّ على أرضٍ مشؤومة.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: Symbolic inversion: a physician’s mortar-and-pestle emitting dark fumes (medicine ‘leprous’), a gem being pierced, and a sculptor clutching his side in pain while carving; contrasted with Kāśī artisans offering finished mūrti at a temple with purifying light.
FAQs
When the natural order is inverted—remedies become diseased and sacred crafts become painful—auspiciousness declines; dharma restores harmony.
Kāśī is implied as the harmonizing sacred realm, contrasted with places where order and well-being are reversed.
No explicit rite; the verse functions as a sign-list supporting the Mahātmya of living/sojourning in dharmic sacred space.