Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 57
विनाच्छिद्रेण तं भूपं नोत्सादयितुमुत्सहे । मयैव हि यतो रक्ष्याः प्रिये धर्मधुरंधराः
vinācchidreṇa taṃ bhūpaṃ notsādayitumutsahe | mayaiva hi yato rakṣyāḥ priye dharmadhuraṃdharāḥ
दोष न सापडता त्या राजाचा नाश करण्यास मी समर्थ नाही; कारण, हे प्रिये, धर्माचे धुरंधर तर माझ्याच रक्षणास पात्र आहेत।
Śiva (addressing Devī/Umā)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Implied interlocutor addressed as ‘priye’ (beloved)—likely a divine consort/close attendant within the narrative frame
Scene: A deity reflects on the impossibility of toppling a faultless dharmic king; the king stands firm, radiant, shielded by an unseen divine aura; courtiers and sacred city motifs frame the scene.
FAQs
Dharma provides inviolability; even divine forces do not act against a righteous protector unless a genuine breach appears.
Kāśī/Vārāṇasī, where the narrative frames kingship as accountable to dharma under Śiva’s guardianship.
None; the verse emphasizes ethical “qualification” and rāja-dharma rather than a specific rite.