Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 29
इदं रहस्यं क्षेत्रस्य वेद कोपि न कुंभज । नास्तिकाय न वक्तव्यं कदाचिच्चर्मचक्षुषे
idaṃ rahasyaṃ kṣetrasya veda kopi na kuṃbhaja | nāstikāya na vaktavyaṃ kadāciccarmacakṣuṣe
হে কুম্ভজ! এই ক্ষেত্ৰৰ এই গূঢ় ৰহস্য অতি কম লোকেই জানে। নাস্তিকক কেতিয়াও ক’ব নালাগে, আৰু যিজনে কেৱল ‘চৰ্মচক্ষু’—বাহ্য দৃষ্টিৰে—দেখে তাকো ক’ব নালাগে।
Skanda
Tirtha: Avimukta (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Agastya (explicit: kumbhaja)
Scene: A guru figure (Skanda) instructs the pot-born sage (Agastya) in a secluded setting; a veil or closed manuscript symbolizes ‘rahasya’; shadowy figures representing nāstika and ‘skin-eyed’ stand outside the circle of teaching.
FAQs
Sacred knowledge requires inner receptivity; without faith and depth, the kṣetra-rahasya is misunderstood or misused.
Avimukta-kṣetra in Kāśī, whose ‘secret’ greatness is guarded by qualification.
A teaching-dharma prescription: do not disclose the rahasya to nāstikas or superficial listeners.