Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 44
पत्या विहीनाश्च यथैव योषा यथा विपक्षा इव मार्गणौघाः । आयूंषि हीनानि यथैव पुण्यैर्वृत्तेन हीनानि यथा श्रुतानि
patyā vihīnāśca yathaiva yoṣā yathā vipakṣā iva mārgaṇaughāḥ | āyūṃṣi hīnāni yathaiva puṇyairvṛttena hīnāni yathā śrutāni
Wie Frauen ohne Gatten; wie Pfeilsalven ohne Befiederung; wie Lebensspannen, die mangels Verdienst verkürzt sind; und wie Wissen ohne rechte Lebensführung—so wurden sie kraftlos.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa discourse, typically Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A chain of symbolic images: a solitary woman with bangles loosened (husband absent) conveying vulnerability; arrows without feathers dropping short; a fading life-lamp representing shortened lifespan without merit; a scholar holding scriptures while his shadow shows misconduct—illustrating learning without right conduct.
FAQs
Merit (puṇya) and right conduct (vṛtta) give true potency; learning and power without dharma become like arrows without feathers—unable to reach the goal.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse, though it sits within the Kāśī-khaṇḍa’s sacred setting.
None explicitly; the verse indirectly emphasizes cultivating puṇya and vṛtta (ethical living) as dharmic practice.