Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 52
यावद्व्रजेत्त्रिचतुराणि पदानि खेदात्स्वेदोदबिंदुकणिकांचितभालदेशः । प्रत्युद्गमाऽकरणतः किल मे विनाशस्तावद्धराभयवरादिव संचुकोच
yāvadvrajettricaturāṇi padāni khedātsvedodabiṃdukaṇikāṃcitabhāladeśaḥ | pratyudgamā'karaṇataḥ kila me vināśastāvaddharābhayavarādiva saṃcukoca
खेदाने तो फक्त तीन-चार पावलेच गेला, तोच त्याच्या कपाळावर घामाचे थेंब चमकू लागले. “मी पुढे जाऊन त्याचे स्वागत केले नाही तर माझा नाश होईल!”—असे मनात येताच तो पर्वत ताबडतोब आकसला, जणू ‘रक्षण-वर’ाच्या भयाने (आणि त्याच्या बंधनाने)च.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa narration typically Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Vindhya (as sacred mountain in Purāṇic itinerary)
Type: peak
Listener: Assembly of sages (frame implied)
Scene: A colossal Vindhya, anthropomorphized, recoils and visibly contracts as a strained figure takes a few steps; sweat beads on the traveler’s brow; the mountain’s ‘fear’ is shown as a physical shrinking, like a living being bound by a protective boon.
FAQs
Pride collapses before true tapas: reverence to saints and prompt humility avert downfall.
Indirectly, the narrative supports Agastya’s southward movement connected to Kāśī’s fame; the verse itself focuses on the Vindhya episode.
None explicitly; the emphasis is ethical—proper reception (pratyudgama) and respectful conduct toward a muni.