Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 39
अद्य श्वो वा परश्वो वा स बहिर्निर्गमिष्यति । इत्याशया स्थिताः स्मो वै यावदद्य तपोधन
adya śvo vā paraśvo vā sa bahirnirgamiṣyati | ityāśayā sthitāḥ smo vai yāvadadya tapodhana
«اليوم، أو غدًا، أو بعد غدٍ، سيخرج إلى الخارج»—بهذا الرجاء لبثنا ننتظر إلى الآن، يا غنيًّا بالتقشّف.
Preta (a departed spirit), speaking to a sage within Skanda’s Kāśī narrative frame
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: tapasvin (tapo-dhana)
Scene: A small group of weary pilgrims stands near a doorway or threshold, eyes fixed outward, counting days—‘today, tomorrow, or the next’—while addressing an austere sage; Kāśī’s lanes and a distant ghāṭ atmosphere frame the scene.
FAQs
Evil tendencies persist through ‘hope’ of opportunity, but Kāśī’s sanctity delays and restrains their access.
Kāśī/Varāṇasī is implied as the protected sacred zone from which one would have to ‘go outside’ (bahir) for sins to regain hold.
None; the verse illustrates the psychological-spiritual motif of āśā (hope) binding lower forces.