Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 39
अद्य श्वो वा परश्वो वा स बहिर्निर्गमिष्यति । इत्याशया स्थिताः स्मो वै यावदद्य तपोधन
adya śvo vā paraśvo vā sa bahirnirgamiṣyati | ityāśayā sthitāḥ smo vai yāvadadya tapodhana
‘آج، یا کل، یا پرسوں وہ باہر نکلے گا’—اسی امید پر ہم اب تک ٹھہرے رہے ہیں، اے صاحبِ ریاضت (تپودھن)۔
Preta (a departed spirit), speaking to a sage within Skanda’s Kāśī narrative frame
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: tapasvin (tapo-dhana)
Scene: A small group of weary pilgrims stands near a doorway or threshold, eyes fixed outward, counting days—‘today, tomorrow, or the next’—while addressing an austere sage; Kāśī’s lanes and a distant ghāṭ atmosphere frame the scene.
FAQs
Evil tendencies persist through ‘hope’ of opportunity, but Kāśī’s sanctity delays and restrains their access.
Kāśī/Varāṇasī is implied as the protected sacred zone from which one would have to ‘go outside’ (bahir) for sins to regain hold.
None; the verse illustrates the psychological-spiritual motif of āśā (hope) binding lower forces.