Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 35
स द्विजो मंदभाग्यान्मे केनचिद्वणिजा सह । अर्थलोभेन संप्राप्तः पुरीं पुण्यामिमां मुने
sa dvijo maṃdabhāgyānme kenacidvaṇijā saha | arthalobhena saṃprāptaḥ purīṃ puṇyāmimāṃ mune
Ce brāhmaṇa — pour mon malheur — arriva dans cette ville sainte, ô sage, accompagné d'un certain marchand, poussé par l'avidité des richesses.
Preta (a departed spirit), speaking to a sage within Skanda’s Kāśī narrative frame
Tirtha: Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sage (muni)
Scene: A brāhmaṇa travels with a merchant caravan toward the holy city; their faces show calculation and greed rather than devotion; the road leads to Kāśī’s gates, hinting at an unseen spiritual boundary that will soon act.
FAQs
Motives may be worldly (wealth-greed), yet entering a puṇya-kṣetra like Kāśī brings one under a higher spiritual law and consequence.
The ‘puṇyā purī’ is Kāśī (Varāṇasī), the foremost Śaiva sacred city.
No direct rite is prescribed; the verse highlights intention (lobha) versus the sanctity (puṇyatva) of the place.