Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 5
क्षारस्वादूदयोरेव यदासीज्जलदर्शनम् । प्रथिव्यां नरसंचारे वतर्माने क्वचित्क्वचित्
kṣārasvādūdayoreva yadāsījjaladarśanam | prathivyāṃ narasaṃcāre vatarmāne kvacitkvacit
ಭೂಮಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಜನರ ಸಂಚಾರ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಗ ನೀರು ಕೆಲವೆಡೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಕಾಣಿಸಿ, ಅದೂ ಉಪ್ಪು ಅಥವಾ ಸಿಹಿ ರುಚಿಯದೇ ಆಗಿದ್ದಾಗ—ಆಗ ಜಲದ ದುರ್ಲಭತೆ ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟವಾಯಿತು।
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (implied as antidote to scarcity)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Travelers scattered across a vast plain, finding only occasional pools—some brackish, some sweet—testing and tasting water; the sense of ‘here and there’ rarity dominates the composition.
FAQs
Worldly supports become scarce and unreliable; therefore one should turn to the enduring spiritual support of a liberating tīrtha and steady dharmic practice.
The chapter context is the glorification of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as the supreme kṣetra, contrasted with hardship elsewhere.
No direct prescription; the verse sets the scene of scarcity that affects daily and ritual life.