Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 44
यैश्च काशीस्थितो जंतुरल्पकोपि विरोधितः । तैर्वै विश्वंभरा सर्वा मया सह विरोधिता
yaiśca kāśīsthito jaṃturalpakopi virodhitaḥ | tairvai viśvaṃbharā sarvā mayā saha virodhitā
Et ceux par qui ne fût-ce qu’un seul être demeurant à Kāśī est contrarié ou blessé, fût-ce légèrement—par eux, en vérité, la Terre entière, Viśvambharā, avec moi, est mise en opposition.
Śiva (Hara/Bhava)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pārvatī / Skanda-tradition audience (contextual)
Scene: Śiva as Viśvanātha stands as guardian of Kāśī; a pilgrim restrains anger and offers protection to a small creature, while the city’s ghāṭas and temples glow behind—signifying that harming a Kāśī-being is cosmic defiance.
FAQs
Kāśī’s sanctity extends to its inhabitants; harming or opposing a Kāśī-dweller is treated as hostility toward Śiva and the cosmic order.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), presented as a protected sacred sphere where residents are under Śiva’s special regard.
No formal ritual; the ethical prescription is ahiṃsā and non-hostility toward beings in Kāśī.