Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 73
लक्ष्मांतरं समाचक्ष्व द्विजबोधकरं प्रसूः । येन विज्ञाय तं विप्रं त्यजेयमपि कंठगम्
lakṣmāṃtaraṃ samācakṣva dvijabodhakaraṃ prasūḥ | yena vijñāya taṃ vipraṃ tyajeyamapi kaṃṭhagam
«Mère, indique-moi un autre signe distinctif par lequel on reconnaît un brāhmaṇa ; l’ayant reconnu, je rejetterais même celui qui demeure dans ma gorge.»
Garuda (Tārkṣya/Pakṣīndra), addressing his mother Vinatā
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya (frame) / within episode: Garuḍa addressing Vinatā
Scene: A young Garuḍa, troubled, asks his mother Vinatā for the defining sign of a brāhmaṇa, implying someone is caught in his throat; the scene is intimate, didactic, and tense.
FAQs
Dharma requires discerning and honoring a brāhmaṇa; even urgent personal discomfort should not lead to harming the righteous.
The broader setting is Kāśī-khaṇḍa (Vārāṇasī/Kāśī-māhātmya), though this verse itself is a dharmic dialogue episode rather than a direct tirtha description.
No explicit ritual is prescribed here; the focus is ethical discernment and restraint in action.