Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 35
तस्मात्सर्वप्रयत्नेन प्रतीपः प्रतिघातुकः । चतुर्वर्गस्य देहस्य परिहेयो विपश्चिता
tasmātsarvaprayatnena pratīpaḥ pratighātukaḥ | caturvargasya dehasya pariheyo vipaścitā
C’est pourquoi, de tous ses efforts, le sage doit éviter celui qui est contraire et entravant—celui qui riposte et fait obstacle—car un tel homme devient le destructeur de la quête incarnée des quatre buts de la vie : dharma, artha, kāma et mokṣa.
Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa dialogue frame: Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and ṛṣis (frame, contextual)
Scene: A didactic moment in Kāśī: a sage or elder instructs a pilgrim/householder to avoid a hostile obstructer; the four puruṣārthas symbolically shown as a chariot or four pillars being threatened by a dark, blocking figure.
FAQs
Avoid hostile, obstructive company, because it undermines dharma and blocks progress toward life’s four goals, including mokṣa.
The verse sits within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, oriented to Kāśī’s dharma-teaching, though no single tīrtha is named in this line.
No ritual is prescribed; it is a conduct-based instruction (sadācāra) about avoiding harmful association.