Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 57
अथवा स कथं लभ्यो विना पुण्यभरोदयम् । इति क्षणं समाधाय मनः स मुनिपुंगवः
athavā sa kathaṃ labhyo vinā puṇyabharodayam | iti kṣaṇaṃ samādhāya manaḥ sa munipuṃgavaḥ
“അല്ലെങ്കിൽ, മഹാപുണ്യസഞ്ചയത്തിന്റെ ഉദയം കൂടാതെ ഇത്തരമൊരു പുരുഷൻ എങ്ങനെ ലഭിക്കും?” എന്നു ചിന്തിച്ച് മുനിശ്രേഷ്ഠൻ ക്ഷണമാത്രം മനസ്സിനെ സമാധാനപ്പെടുത്തി.
Narrator (Skanda speaking to Agastya, inferred from Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: (Contextual) audience
Scene: A foremost sage pauses, eyes half-closed, gathering his mind; a subtle aura of stillness around him as he reflects on the rise of merit.
FAQs
Extraordinary blessings are not accidental; they arise from accumulated puṇya and mature through reflection and discernment.
The Kāśīkhaṇḍa framework implies Kāśī’s merit-producing power, though the verse itself speaks generally of puṇya.
No explicit rite is mentioned; the verse points to the necessity of puṇya and the sage’s contemplative composure.