Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 19
मध्ये दुर्गप्रविष्टौ च ममवश्याविमौ न यत् । एकदृष्टिः क्षणं तस्थौ श्येन इत्थं विचिंतयन्
madhye durgapraviṣṭau ca mamavaśyāvimau na yat | ekadṛṣṭiḥ kṣaṇaṃ tasthau śyena itthaṃ viciṃtayan
“ಇವರು ಕೋಟೆಯೊಳಗೆ ಪ್ರವೇಶಿಸಿದ ಕಾರಣ ಈಗ ಇವರು ನನ್ನ ವಶದಲ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ.” ಎಂದು ಚಿಂತಿಸುತ್ತ ಶ್ಯೇನನು ಒಂದೇ ದೃಷ್ಟಿಯಿಂದ ಕ್ಷಣಕಾಲ ನಿಂತನು।
Skanda (contextual narration)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages (assumed)
Scene: The hawk stands motionless, eyes fixed, at the temple’s edge; the doorway is calm and luminous; the doves are unseen but implied safe within; the scene is suspended in a quiet, charged stillness.
FAQs
Entering a consecrated refuge places beings beyond ordinary aggression, underscoring dharmic protection.
Kāśī’s Śaiva sanctuaries are implied as inviolable refuges, likened to a fortress.
None; the verse teaches through narrative symbolism rather than ritual instruction.