Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 85
मानयामासुरथ तान्कुक्कुटान्साधुवर्त्मनः । प्राक्तनां वासनायोगात्संप्रधार्य परस्परम् । क्रमेणाहारमाकुंच्य प्राणांस्त्यक्ष्यंति चात्र वै
mānayāmāsuratha tānkukkuṭānsādhuvartmanaḥ | prāktanāṃ vāsanāyogātsaṃpradhārya parasparam | krameṇāhāramākuṃcya prāṇāṃstyakṣyaṃti cātra vai
Dann ehrten sie jene Hähne, die auf den Pfad der Guten gestellt waren. Kraft früherer Prägungen und im gegenseitigen Verstehen würden sie nach und nach die Nahrung verringern und wahrlich hier den Lebenshauch aufgeben.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, typically Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kukkuṭamaṇḍapa (contextual; named explicitly in 48.88)
Type: ghat
Listener: Viṣṇu (dialogue implied by 48.86 address)
Scene: Kāśī residents respectfully tend and honor roosters behaving like sādhus; the birds, as if remembering past lives, communicate silently and begin a gradual fast leading to a holy death within the precinct.
FAQs
Spiritual resolve matures through vāsanā and mutual reinforcement; disciplined restraint can culminate in a sacred death in Kāśī oriented toward liberation.
The ‘here’ points to the Muktimaṇḍapa/Kukkuṭamaṇḍapa area within Kāśī-kṣetra.
Gradual reduction of food (āhāram ākuṃcya), akin to ascetic discipline and vrata observance.