Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 72
किं करोमि क्व गच्छामि कथं मेरुं जयाम्यहम् । उत्प्लुत्य तस्य शिरसि पतामि न पताम्यतः
kiṃ karomi kva gacchāmi kathaṃ meruṃ jayāmyaham | utplutya tasya śirasi patāmi na patāmyataḥ
«Was soll ich tun? Wohin soll ich gehen? Wie kann ich den Meru bezwingen? Wenn ich emporspringe und auf seinen Gipfel stürze—werde ich fallen oder nicht fallen?»
Skanda (narrating/quoting the anxious person’s inner turmoil; deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Meru (symbolic reference)
Type: peak
Listener: Ṛṣi audience (contextual)
Scene: A person looks up at the colossal golden Meru, knees bent as if to leap; the scene is surreal—clouds swirl, the summit glows—while the figure’s face shows doubt: ‘will I fall or not?’
FAQs
Anxiety multiplies hypothetical extremes and paralyzes action; clarity arises by shifting from self-reliance to divine grounding.
Not named in this verse, but the Kāśīkhaṇḍa setting frames the resolution as seeking Kāśī and Viśveśa.
None; the verse depicts the symptoms of mental agitation.