Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 34
धिग्धिगेतदधिकर्द्धि चेष्टितं चंक्रमेक्षणविलक्षितं यतः । वीक्षते क्षणमचारुचक्षुषा घातितेन विपदःपदेन च
dhigdhigetadadhikarddhi ceṣṭitaṃ caṃkramekṣaṇavilakṣitaṃ yataḥ | vīkṣate kṣaṇamacārucakṣuṣā ghātitena vipadaḥpadena ca
Honte, honte à cette quête fébrile d’une richesse démesurée, à cette conduite singulière qui erre en tous sens et jette des regards çà et là ! Car ne fût-ce qu’un instant, un regard aux yeux sans grâce et sans discipline, joint à un pas posé sur un chemin périlleux, abat l’homme dans le malheur.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśī-khaṇḍa commonly Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A moral tableau: a traveler with darting eyes and hurried steps approaches a broken, thorny path; shadows of wealth and distractions lure him, while a calm ascetic points toward a steady, lamp-lit path leading to a Śiva-liṅga cityscape of Kāśī.
FAQs
Uncontrolled striving and undisciplined sense-gazing lead to downfall; steadiness and restraint protect dharma.
The verse is within the Kāśī-khaṇḍa’s broader glorification of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), though this line itself is a general moral warning.
No explicit rite is stated here; the emphasis is ethical restraint (indriya-nigraha) as a dhārmic discipline.