Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 48
तामेव बह्वमंस्तैकां दूतीं मृत्योरिवासुरः । शुद्धांतरक्षिणश्चैतां शुद्धां तं प्रापयंत्वरम्
tāmeva bahvamaṃstaikāṃ dūtīṃ mṛtyorivāsuraḥ | śuddhāṃtarakṣiṇaścaitāṃ śuddhāṃ taṃ prāpayaṃtvaram
स असुरः तामेवैकां दूतीं मृत्योरिव बह्वमन्यत्। शुद्धान्त-रक्षिणश्चैते शुद्धाः सन्तोऽपि तं शीघ्रं तामुत्तमां स्त्रियम् प्रापयामासुः।
Narrator (within Skanda’s discourse to Agastya, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages (muni addressed)
Scene: A solitary female messenger stands fearless; the asura recoils as if seeing Death; pure inner-guardians usher him onward toward the 'excellent lady,' heightening dramatic irony.
FAQs
The sacred (or its agent) can appear as death to the adharmic; Purāṇic narratives depict divine justice arriving through seemingly ordinary figures.
Kāśī is the overarching locus of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, but this verse is narrative and not a direct tīrtha description.
None.