Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 15
औषधेष्वेव यत्रास्ति कुष्ठयोगो न मानवे । वेधोप्यंतःसुरत्नेषु शूलं मूर्तिकरेषु वै
auṣadheṣveva yatrāsti kuṣṭhayogo na mānave | vedhopyaṃtaḥsuratneṣu śūlaṃ mūrtikareṣu vai
Wo der Aussatz nur in den Heilmitteln ist und nicht im Menschen; wo selbst kostbare innere Edelsteine gleichsam „durchbohrt“ werden; und wo speerähnlicher Schmerz die Schöpfer heiliger Bilder trifft—eine solche Umkehr der Ordnung kündet von einem unheilvollen Reich.
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.