Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 16
न तथोज्झितदेहयातया मम दक्षोद्भवयामनोऽदुनोत् । अविमुक्तवियोगजन्मनापरि दूयेत यथा महोष्मणा
na tathojjhitadehayātayā mama dakṣodbhavayāmano'dunot | avimuktaviyogajanmanāpari dūyeta yathā mahoṣmaṇā
My mind was not so tormented even by the suffering that came when Dakṣa’s daughter abandoned her body, as it is scorched now—born of separation from Avimukta—like something seared on every side by fierce heat.
Śiva
Tirtha: Avimukta (Kāśī)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s audience within the frame narrative
Scene: Śiva compares two griefs: Satī’s self-immolation grief versus the present scorching separation from Avimukta; the imagery is of being seared on all sides by fierce heat.
FAQs
Avimukta (Kāśī) is presented as Śiva’s own unfailing abode; separation from it is depicted as more unbearable than cosmic grief, underscoring its supreme sanctity.
Avimukta-kṣetra, identified with Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), the ‘never-abandoned’ sacred field of Śiva.
None explicitly; the verse functions as a mahātmya-intensifier by portraying Avimukta as the highest refuge.