Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 56
गणाः पश्यत दुर्वृत्तैः प्रारब्धानां च कर्मणाम् । अनीश्वरैरवस्थेयं कुतो द्वेषो महेश्वरे
gaṇāḥ paśyata durvṛttaiḥ prārabdhānāṃ ca karmaṇām | anīśvarairavastheyaṃ kuto dveṣo maheśvare
‘O Gaṇas, behold: by the wicked, actions once set in motion bring about such a helpless condition. If this is the fate of those without true lordship, how can hatred be directed toward Maheśvara?’
Vīrabhadra
Listener: Ṛṣis (frame assumed)
Scene: Vīrabhadra addresses the gaṇas like a teacher-general: pointing to the ruined enclosure as proof of karma’s recoil and the folly of hating Maheśvara.
FAQs
Karma ripens inevitably; blaming Śiva is ignorance—Maheśvara stands as the higher order beyond petty resentment.
The teaching is embedded in the Kāśī-centered Kāśīkhaṇḍa, where Śiva’s lordship is upheld as the theological axis of the sacred city.
No ritual instruction; it is a doctrinal admonition about karma and devotion rather than ceremony.