Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 13
अन्यत्राक्षिकवृंदेभ्यः क्वचिन्न परिदेवनम् । आक्षिका एव दृश्यंते यत्र पाशकपाणयः
anyatrākṣikavṛṃdebhyaḥ kvacinna paridevanam | ākṣikā eva dṛśyaṃte yatra pāśakapāṇayaḥ
جہاں جواریوں کے جتھوں کے سوا کہیں کوئی فریاد و آہ و زاری سنائی نہ دے؛ اور جہاں ہاتھوں میں پاسے لیے صرف جواری ہی دکھائی دیں—اس جگہ کو سعادت و برکت سے خالی جانیے۔
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī / Avimukta (implied)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: A street filled with gamblers clutching dice, their faces tense; the rest of the town eerily silent of true lament—suggesting numbness; contrasted with Kāśī where devotees count beads, perform ārati, and chant on the ghāṭas.
FAQs
A culture dominated by gambling and its sorrows loses auspiciousness; dharma calls for self-control and devotional living.
Kāśī is implicitly glorified as a place of spiritual practice, contrasted with lands ruled by vice.
No explicit ritual is stated; the implied prescription is to abandon gambling and cultivate dharmic disciplines (japa, vrata, worship).