Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 10
गरलं गलनालिकातले विलसेदस्य न तेन तापितः । अमृतांशु तुषारदीधिति प्रचयैरेव तु तापितोऽद्भुतम्
garalaṃ galanālikātale vilasedasya na tena tāpitaḥ | amṛtāṃśu tuṣāradīdhiti pracayaireva tu tāpito'dbhutam
مع أنّ السمّ يلمع في حنجرته، لا يحرقه ذلك؛ بل إنّ القمر ذا الأشعّة كالأمريتة، بتراكم أنواره الباردة كالصقيع، هو الذي يُلهبه على نحوٍ عجيب.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka/ṛṣis framework (typical) or internal Kāśī-māhātmya audience
Scene: Śiva with blue throat, crescent moon on matted locks; despite poison at the throat, he appears inwardly aflame, as if the moon’s cool rays paradoxically kindle anguish of separation from Kāśī.
FAQs
Worldly terrors (poison) cannot shake the Lord, but divine love and sacred longing (for Kāśī) is portrayed as overpowering—exalting the tīrtha’s majesty.
Kāśī, as the cause of the Lord’s ‘burning’ in separation.
None.