Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31
अराजके समुत्पन्ने लोकेऽत्याहितशंसिनि । प्रयत्नो विफलस्त्वासीत्सृष्टेः सृष्टिकृतस्तदा
arājake samutpanne loke'tyāhitaśaṃsini | prayatno viphalastvāsītsṛṣṭeḥ sṛṣṭikṛtastadā
When a kingless, ungoverned condition arose in the world, bringing extreme harm, then the Creator’s efforts to sustain creation became fruitless.
Skanda
Scene: A symbolic tableau: the world without a king—fires unkept, fields untended, people in fear; above, Brahmā appears troubled as order unravels.
FAQs
Rājadharma (just governance) is presented as a pillar of worldly stability; without it, even cosmic design cannot easily flourish.
No specific site is named; the verse sets the moral-political collapse that motivates divine recourse, later tied to Kāśī’s sanctity.
None; the focus is on governance and the collapse of social order.