Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 47
चतुर्णामप्याश्रमाणां कोतीव श्रेयसे सताम् । यस्मिन्प्राप्नोति संक्षुण्णे परत्रेह च वा सुखम्
caturṇāmapyāśramāṇāṃ kotīva śreyase satām | yasminprāpnoti saṃkṣuṇṇe paratreha ca vā sukham
“ក្នុងអាស្រមទាំងបួន តើមួយណាជាអ្វីដែលនាំសេចក្តីប្រសើរបំផុតសម្រាប់សតបុរស—ដោយប្រតិបត្តិតាម ទោះនៅក្រោមសម្ពាធជីវិត ក៏ទទួលបានសុខទាំងក្នុងលោកនេះ និងលោកក្រោយ?”
Gaṇas (narrating Viśvānara’s internal question)
Listener: Frame-audience (implied)
Scene: The sage in thoughtful pose, one hand on chest, the other resting on knee, as if weighing the four āśramas; faint symbolic icons around him—student’s staff (brahmacarya), household fire (gārhasthya), forest hut (vānaprastha), ochre robe (saṃnyāsa).
FAQs
Dharma requires discernment: one should choose a life-path (āśrama) that supports virtue and well-being in both worldly and spiritual terms.
No single tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as a dharma-teaching within the broader Kāśīkhaṇḍa sacred narrative.
None; it frames an ethical-theological inquiry about āśrama-dharma.