Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 60
स्वयमेव हि कुर्वीत धर्मकार्यं प्रयत्नतः । ओषधीनामयं नाथस्तव जामातृषूत्तमः
svayameva hi kurvīta dharmakāryaṃ prayatnataḥ | oṣadhīnāmayaṃ nāthastava jāmātṛṣūttamaḥ
En vérité, c’est lui-même qui doit accomplir l’œuvre du Dharma avec ardeur. Ce seigneur des plantes médicinales est ton gendre le plus éminent.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa norm)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: In-text recipient of instruction (context-dependent)
Scene: Dharma, portrayed as a dignified son-in-law figure, is exhorted to perform dharma-work himself with earnestness; medicinal herbs are symbolically present as offerings or bundles, indicating healing abundance.
FAQs
Dharma is fulfilled through sincere personal effort; responsibility cannot be outsourced to mere ceremonial forms.
The passage is situated within Kāśī-khaṇḍa’s dharma-teaching context, reinforcing Kāśī’s role as a field of right action.
No specific rite is prescribed; the emphasis is on dharma-kārya performed directly and diligently.