Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 72
क्व यामि क्व स्थिते शंभो मम श्रेयो भविष्यति । पित्रा निर्वासितश्चाहं न च वेद्म्यथ किंचन
kva yāmi kva sthite śaṃbho mama śreyo bhaviṣyati | pitrā nirvāsitaścāhaṃ na ca vedmyatha kiṃcana
„Wohin soll ich gehen, und wo kann ich bleiben, o Śambhu? Was wird mein wahres Heil sein? Mein Vater hat mich verstoßen, und ich weiß gar nichts—was soll ich nun tun?“
Unspecified in snippet (Kāśīkhaṇḍa context: typically Skanda narrating to Agastya; this verse is voiced by a distressed person within the narrative)
Tirtha: Vārāṇasī / Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śambhu/Śiva (invoked); secondarily the narrative audience
Scene: A distressed exile stands with folded hands, addressing Śambhu; behind him the suggestion of Kāśī’s ghāṭas and a distant liṅga-shrine, conveying both despair and hope.
FAQs
In crisis and abandonment, one should turn to Śiva and seek the path of śreyas (true good), not despair.
Kāśī/Vārāṇasī is the implied refuge that the following verses explicitly praise.
None in this verse; it is a lament/prayer setting up Kāśī’s salvific refuge.