Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 33
समर्थस्त्वप्सरोवर्गो नियंतुं यमिनां यमान् । स तु यूनि प्रभवति नात्र बाले करोमि किम्
samarthastvapsarovargo niyaṃtuṃ yamināṃ yamān | sa tu yūni prabhavati nātra bāle karomi kim
‘അപ്സരസ്സുകളുടെ സംഘം യതികളുടെ നിയന്ത്രണങ്ങളെയും തകർക്കാൻ സമർത്ഥം; എന്നാൽ അത് യുവാക്കളിൽ മാത്രമേ പ്രവർത്തിക്കൂ. ഇവിടെ ഈ ബാലൻ അപ്രഭാവിതൻ—ഞാൻ എന്തു ചെയ്യും?’
Indra (deduced: typical deva response to tapas threatening his post)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and sages
Scene: A celestial council considers sending Apsarases; the speaker notes their power over young men but admits helplessness before a child-ascetic whose mind is untouched; the contrast between sensual splendor and austere innocence is central.
FAQs
Temptations that derail many practitioners fail before innocence and single-pointed devotion; purity strengthens restraint.
The passage sits within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī-kṣetra glorification, though no single tīrtha is named in this verse.
None; the verse discusses obstacles to tapas (temptation) rather than prescribing a ritual.