Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 72
संप्रधार्येति तेप्राहुः स्मर्तव्यं स्मर पांथिक । त्वां वयं घातयिष्यामो निश्चितं सपरिच्छदम्
saṃpradhāryeti teprāhuḥ smartavyaṃ smara pāṃthika | tvāṃ vayaṃ ghātayiṣyāmo niścitaṃ saparicchadam
Mereka berkata: “Ingatlah kata ‘setelah dipertimbangkan’ ini—ingatlah baik-baik, wahai musafir. Kami pasti akan membunuhmu, dan merampasmu bersama segala harta bendamu.”
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (implicit via contrast)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and sages
Scene: A bandit leader leans close, mocking the traveler: ‘remember your deliberation’; the captive’s eyes turn inward as if searching for a saving remembrance amid the threat of death.
FAQs
A single wrong deliberation can become a lifelong (and life-ending) turning point; choices made away from dharma bear harsh fruit.
Kāśī is glorified indirectly, as the narrative implies that abandoning Kāśī leads into a chain of calamities.
None directly; the verse uses dramatic speech to imprint a moral warning.