Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 44
यैश्च काशीस्थितो जंतुरल्पकोपि विरोधितः । तैर्वै विश्वंभरा सर्वा मया सह विरोधिता
yaiśca kāśīsthito jaṃturalpakopi virodhitaḥ | tairvai viśvaṃbharā sarvā mayā saha virodhitā
Und diejenigen, durch die auch nur ein einziges Wesen, das in Kāśī weilt, angefeindet oder auch nur gering verletzt wird—durch sie wird wahrlich die ganze Erde, Viśvambharā, zusammen mit mir, angefeindet.
Śiva (Hara/Bhava)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pārvatī / Skanda-tradition audience (contextual)
Scene: Śiva as Viśvanātha stands as guardian of Kāśī; a pilgrim restrains anger and offers protection to a small creature, while the city’s ghāṭas and temples glow behind—signifying that harming a Kāśī-being is cosmic defiance.
FAQs
Kāśī’s sanctity extends to its inhabitants; harming or opposing a Kāśī-dweller is treated as hostility toward Śiva and the cosmic order.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), presented as a protected sacred sphere where residents are under Śiva’s special regard.
No formal ritual; the ethical prescription is ahiṃsā and non-hostility toward beings in Kāśī.