Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 47
किं बलाश्च किमाहाराः किमाधारा हि देवताः । विचार्य बहुशो दैत्यस्तत्त्वं विज्ञाय निश्चितम्
kiṃ balāśca kimāhārāḥ kimādhārā hi devatāḥ | vicārya bahuśo daityastattvaṃ vijñāya niścitam
“അവരുടെ ബലം എന്ത്? അവരുടെ ആഹാരം എന്ത്? ദേവന്മാർ യഥാർത്ഥത്തിൽ ഏതു ആശ്രയത്തിലാണ്?” എന്ന് ദൈത്യൻ പലവട്ടം ആലോചിച്ച് തത്ത്വം അറിഞ്ഞ് ദൃഢനിശ്ചയത്തിലായി.
Skanda (narration to Agastya, inferred)
Listener: Naimiṣāraṇya ṛṣis (frame assumed; not explicit in verse)
Scene: The daitya interrogates the unseen structure of divine power—visualized as a chain: devas → yajña → Veda → brāhmaṇa—appearing like luminous links in the air as he contemplates.
FAQs
Power rooted in Dharma has identifiable supports; protecting those supports preserves cosmic balance.
Kāśī is the overarching sacred geography of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, but this verse itself does not name a specific tīrtha.
No direct prescription; the verse foreshadows the Devas’ dependence on Vedic-yajña systems.