Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 72
संप्रधार्येति तेप्राहुः स्मर्तव्यं स्मर पांथिक । त्वां वयं घातयिष्यामो निश्चितं सपरिच्छदम्
saṃpradhāryeti teprāhuḥ smartavyaṃ smara pāṃthika | tvāṃ vayaṃ ghātayiṣyāmo niścitaṃ saparicchadam
ഇപ്രകാരം തീരുമാനിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് അവർ പറഞ്ഞു, "ഹേ സഞ്ചാരി! നീ ഓർക്കേണ്ടതെല്ലാം ഓർത്തുകൊള്ളുക. ഞങ്ങൾ തീർച്ചയായും നിന്നെയും നിന്റെ കൂട്ടരെയും കൊല്ലാൻ പോകുന്നു."
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (implicit via contrast)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and sages
Scene: A bandit leader leans close, mocking the traveler: ‘remember your deliberation’; the captive’s eyes turn inward as if searching for a saving remembrance amid the threat of death.
FAQs
A single wrong deliberation can become a lifelong (and life-ending) turning point; choices made away from dharma bear harsh fruit.
Kāśī is glorified indirectly, as the narrative implies that abandoning Kāśī leads into a chain of calamities.
None directly; the verse uses dramatic speech to imprint a moral warning.