Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 57
न तथा बिभीमो वह्नेर्नतथा विद्युतो यथा । आपतंतीं समालोक्य वयं दूताः पतिव्रताम्
na tathā bibhīmo vahnernatathā vidyuto yathā | āpataṃtīṃ samālokya vayaṃ dūtāḥ pativratām
ഞങ്ങൾ ദൂതന്മാർ അഗ്നിയെയോ മിന്നലെയോ അത്ര ഭയപ്പെടുന്നില്ല; എന്നാൽ ഞങ്ങളിലേക്കു പാഞ്ഞുവരുന്ന പതിവ്രതയെ കണ്ടാൽ അത്യന്തം ഭയപ്പെടുന്നു।
Yamadūtas (in-verse first-person ‘we messengers’)
Listener: Their cohort/implicit audience; secondarily the Purāṇic listener
Scene: Yamadūtas speak in alarm, comparing their fear: fire and lightning are nothing compared to the sight of a pativratā charging toward them, her aura like a living thunderbolt.
FAQs
Moral purity and steadfast dharma are depicted as more formidable than natural terrors.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it is part of the Kāśī-khaṇḍa’s broader glorification of sacred dharma in Kāśī.
None; it is a testimony (spoken by Yamadūtas) about the power of pativratā-dharma.