Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 44
दीर्घिकोवाच । न मया त्वं महाभाग निद्रोपहतया दृशा । दृष्टस्तेन परिस्पृष्टो ह्यस्पृश्यः पापकृत्तमः
dīrghikovāca | na mayā tvaṃ mahābhāga nidropahatayā dṛśā | dṛṣṭastena parispṛṣṭo hyaspṛśyaḥ pāpakṛttamaḥ
دیرغِکا نے کہا: “اے نیک بخت! نیند سے مغلوب نگاہ کے سبب میں نے آپ کو نہ دیکھا؛ اسی لیے اس نہایت گنہگار، اچھوت نے آپ کو چھو لیا۔”
Dīrghikā
Type: kshetra
Scene: Dīrghikā speaks with folded hands or a contrite gesture, eyes heavy with sleep; nearby, a shadowy figure or implied ‘untouchable’ presence heightens tension.
FAQs
It underscores intention versus accident: moral judgment becomes complicated when harm occurs without awareness.
The exchange is embedded in the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra narrative frame of the Tīrthamāhātmya.
No explicit rite is prescribed; the verse discusses purity/impurity language as part of the story’s social-moral setting.