Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 48
तामेव बह्वमंस्तैकां दूतीं मृत्योरिवासुरः । शुद्धांतरक्षिणश्चैतां शुद्धां तं प्रापयंत्वरम्
tāmeva bahvamaṃstaikāṃ dūtīṃ mṛtyorivāsuraḥ | śuddhāṃtarakṣiṇaścaitāṃ śuddhāṃ taṃ prāpayaṃtvaram
اُس اسور نے اسی ایک قاصدہ کو گویا خود موت سمجھا۔ اور اندرونی سمتوں کے نگہبان، پاکیزہ ہوتے ہوئے بھی، اسے فوراً اُس برگزیدہ خاتون کی طرف لے گئے۔
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.