Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 9
निजभालतलं कलानिधेः कलया नित्यमलंकरोति यः । स तदीश्वरमप्यतापयद्विधुरेको विपरीत एव तु
nijabhālatalaṃ kalānidheḥ kalayā nityamalaṃkaroti yaḥ | sa tadīśvaramapyatāpayadvidhureko viparīta eva tu
Wer stets seine eigene Stirn mit einem Teil des Herrn der kalās, dem Mond, schmückt—eben dieser Mond ließ in wunderlicher Umkehr sogar seinen Herrn in Kummer brennen.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: Close focus on Śiva’s forehead: the crescent Moon that usually cools and beautifies is shown as strangely ‘heating’ the Lord—an artistic paradox with contrasting cool lunar glow and warm anguish aura.
FAQs
The ‘paradox’ underscores the intensity of Kāśī’s pull: even the Moon—Śiva’s ornament—becomes a cause in the narrative of longing, magnifying Kāśī’s greatness.
Kāśī, as the implied object of separation that triggers this cosmic paradox.
None.