Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 16
वाराणस्यां हि न त्यक्तश्चंडालस्य प्रतिग्रहः । स्नानहीनः सदा पापी रात्रौ चौर्य्येण वर्त्तते
vārāṇasyāṃ hi na tyaktaścaṃḍālasya pratigrahaḥ | snānahīnaḥ sadā pāpī rātrau cauryyeṇa varttate
वाराणसीतही त्याने चांडालाकडून दान घेणे सोडले नाही। स्नानविहीन, सदैव पापी, तो रात्री चोरी करून उपजीविका करी।
Sūta (deduced: Purāṇic narration within Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) / Gaṅgā-ghaṭa snāna (implied)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: Night in Vārāṇasī: ghats and river in the background; the man, unbathed, slips through alleys with stolen goods; a shadowy figure offers a ‘gift’ marked as impure; the Ganga glimmers as a silent witness.
FAQs
Life without self-restraint and purification (snāna) tends toward continued pāpa; dharma requires purity, right livelihood, and discernment in receiving.
Vārāṇasī (Kāśī) is named, a foremost tīrtha in Purāṇic sacred geography.
Snāna (holy bathing/purificatory bathing) is implied as a necessary discipline; absence of snāna is criticized.