Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 33
समर्थस्त्वप्सरोवर्गो नियंतुं यमिनां यमान् । स तु यूनि प्रभवति नात्र बाले करोमि किम्
samarthastvapsarovargo niyaṃtuṃ yamināṃ yamān | sa tu yūni prabhavati nātra bāle karomi kim
‘اپسراؤں کا گروہ زاہدوں کی بندشوں کو بھی ڈھیلا کر سکتا ہے، مگر وہ اثر صرف جوانوں پر کرتا ہے۔ یہاں یہ لڑکا بے داغ ہے، میں کیا کروں؟’
Indra (deduced: typical deva response to tapas threatening his post)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and sages
Scene: A celestial council considers sending Apsarases; the speaker notes their power over young men but admits helplessness before a child-ascetic whose mind is untouched; the contrast between sensual splendor and austere innocence is central.
FAQs
Temptations that derail many practitioners fail before innocence and single-pointed devotion; purity strengthens restraint.
The passage sits within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī-kṣetra glorification, though no single tīrtha is named in this verse.
None; the verse discusses obstacles to tapas (temptation) rather than prescribing a ritual.