Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 71
ते दृश्यंते प्रतिद्वारं विहीन नयनाननाः । देहिदेहीति जल्पंतो देहिनः सपटच्चराः
te dṛśyaṃte pratidvāraṃ vihīna nayanānanāḥ | dehidehīti jalpaṃto dehinaḥ sapaṭaccarāḥ
Man sieht sie an jeder Tür, ohne Augen und ohne Antlitz, stammelnd: „Gib, gib!“—verkörperte Wesen, die in Lumpen und Fetzen umherziehen.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (implied)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A stark street tableau: rag-clad beggars at doorways, faces obscured/erased (symbolic ‘bereft of eyes and face’), hands outstretched repeating ‘dehi dehi’; householders avert gaze—moral contrast between neglect and compassion.
FAQs
Neglect of dharmic duties leads to degrading karmic outcomes—symbolized by helplessness, dependence, and loss of dignity.
No single tirtha is named; the verse functions as a warning within Kāśī-khaṇḍa’s teaching on sacred observances.
Implicitly, it reinforces the prior prescriptions: charity, tīrtha-bathing, and special homa at saṅkrānti.