Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 37
यस्मात्त्वद्रूपमालोक्य गोपाल्यः स्खलिता इमाः । तस्मात्कुष्ठी भव क्षिप्रमकांडागमनेन च
yasmāttvadrūpamālokya gopālyaḥ skhalitā imāḥ | tasmātkuṣṭhī bhava kṣipramakāṃḍāgamanena ca
“Because these cowherd maidens stumbled upon seeing your beauty, therefore become leprous at once—and let it come upon you suddenly, without delay.”
Nārada (as narrator within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame)
Scene: A charged moment of imprecation: cowherd maidens (gopālyas) recoiling and stumbling as a radiant youth’s beauty distracts them; a speaker pronounces a sudden curse of leprosy, foreshadowing karmic consequence.
FAQs
Misuse of beauty and desire leads to immediate karmic consequence; restraint and humility are upheld as dharma.
This verse is part of the lead-up; the explicit glorification follows with Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) as the place of purification.
None here; it states the onset of a curse (kuṣṭha) as a karmic result.