Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 38
अद्यापि तानि पापानि तद्बहिर्निर्गमेच्छया । बहिरेव हि तिष्ठंति सीम्नि प्रमथसाध्वसात्
adyāpi tāni pāpāni tadbahirnirgamecchayā | bahireva hi tiṣṭhaṃti sīmni pramathasādhvasāt
आज भी वे पाप उसे बाहर निकालने की इच्छा से सीमा-प्रदेश में, बाहर ही, शिव के प्रमथों के भय से ठहरे हुए हैं।
Preta (a departed spirit), speaking to a sage within Skanda’s Kāśī narrative frame
Tirtha: Kāśī-sīmā (boundary of Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sage
Scene: Outside Kāśī’s boundary line, personified sins—dark, restless forms—linger and look inward, yearning to pull the man back out; fierce Pramathas patrol the perimeter, causing the sins to tremble and remain outside.
FAQs
Sin is portrayed as powerless inside Kāśī; it can only wait at the margins, restrained by Śiva’s divine guardians.
The sacred boundary (sīmā) of Kāśī/Varāṇasī is emphasized as spiritually guarded.
No direct prescription; the verse describes the metaphysical protection of Kāśī by Pramathas.