Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 38
अद्यापि तानि पापानि तद्बहिर्निर्गमेच्छया । बहिरेव हि तिष्ठंति सीम्नि प्रमथसाध्वसात्
adyāpi tāni pāpāni tadbahirnirgamecchayā | bahireva hi tiṣṭhaṃti sīmni pramathasādhvasāt
آج بھی وہ گناہ اسے باہر نکالنے کی خواہش میں سرحد پر ہی—یعنی باہر ہی—ٹھہرے ہیں، کیونکہ شیو کے پرمَتھوں کا خوف ہے۔
Preta (a departed spirit), speaking to a sage within Skanda’s Kāśī narrative frame
Tirtha: Kāśī-sīmā (boundary of Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sage
Scene: Outside Kāśī’s boundary line, personified sins—dark, restless forms—linger and look inward, yearning to pull the man back out; fierce Pramathas patrol the perimeter, causing the sins to tremble and remain outside.
FAQs
Sin is portrayed as powerless inside Kāśī; it can only wait at the margins, restrained by Śiva’s divine guardians.
The sacred boundary (sīmā) of Kāśī/Varāṇasī is emphasized as spiritually guarded.
No direct prescription; the verse describes the metaphysical protection of Kāśī by Pramathas.