Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 190
अद्य प्रभृति न क्षेत्रे मदीये शापवर्जिते । आवस क्रोधन मुने न वासे योग्यतात्र ते
adya prabhṛti na kṣetre madīye śāpavarjite | āvasa krodhana mune na vāse yogyatātra te
आजपासून, हे क्रोधी मुने, माझ्या शापरहित पवित्र क्षेत्रात तू राहू नकोस; या धामात तुझी वासयोग्यता नाही।
Śiva (deduced from Kāśīkhaṇḍa context of divine governance of Kāśī)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Agastya (frame)
Scene: A stern, luminous Śiva (or the presiding kṣetra-devatā) issues a command of exclusion to a wrathful sage at the threshold of Kāśī’s sacred boundary; the city’s ghāṭs and spires glow behind, while the sage stands halted, chastened.
FAQs
Kāśī is upheld as a uniquely protected sacred realm; improper dispositions like uncontrolled anger are incompatible with residence in such a holy kṣetra.
Kāśī-kṣetra (Vārāṇasī), described as ‘śāpavarjita’—beyond the reach of ordinary curses.
No specific rite is prescribed; the verse emphasizes moral qualification (adhikāra) for dwelling in the sacred area.