Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 38
वेपमानो महाव्याधिभयात्सांबोपि दारुणात् । कृष्णं प्रसादयामास बहुशः पापशांतये
vepamāno mahāvyādhibhayātsāṃbopi dāruṇāt | kṛṣṇaṃ prasādayāmāsa bahuśaḥ pāpaśāṃtaye
সেই ভয়ংকর মহাব্যাধির আতঙ্কে কাঁপতে কাঁপতে সাম্বও পাপশান্তির কামনায় বারংবার শ্রীকৃষ্ণকে প্রসন্ন করতে লাগল।
Nārada (as narrator within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame)
Scene: Sāmba, visibly shaken, hands folded in repeated supplication before Kṛṣṇa; the atmosphere is heavy with dread of disease yet softened by the possibility of divine mercy.
FAQs
Fear and suffering can awaken repentance; sincere turning toward the divine is the beginning of purification.
Not yet named in this verse; the narrative is moving toward Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) as the decisive purifier.
Repeated propitiation (prasādana)—devotional seeking of grace—is implied, though no specific rite is detailed.