Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 12
दंडः परशुकुद्दाल वालव्य जनराजिषु । आतपत्रेषु नान्यत्र क्वचित्क्रोधापराधजः
daṃḍaḥ paraśukuddāla vālavya janarājiṣu | ātapatreṣu nānyatra kvacitkrodhāparādhajaḥ
Là où le « châtiment » parmi les foules n’est que haches, bêches et outils grossiers ; et où, hormis les ombrelles du rang, on ne voit nulle part que des peines nées de la colère et de la faute : là, le dharma se flétrit.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta (implied)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A crowd where ‘punishment’ appears as axes and spades raised in anger; parasols of rank float above, symbolizing hollow authority; opposite, Kāśī shows orderly procession with priests, lamps, and calm guardians.
FAQs
Rule driven by anger and crude force signals the absence of dharma; righteous discipline must be rooted in moral law, not wrath.
Kāśī is praised implicitly as a dharmic realm, contrasted with places where social order collapses into violence.
None; the verse is descriptive, reinforcing the Mahātmya by contrasting dharmic and adharmic governance.