Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 44
स्थिरापायः सदा कायो न धनं निधनेऽवति । तन्मूढः प्रौढकार्ये किं न यतेत भवानिव
sthirāpāyaḥ sadā kāyo na dhanaṃ nidhane'vati | tanmūḍhaḥ prauḍhakārye kiṃ na yateta bhavāniva
El cuerpo se encamina siempre a la ruina, y la riqueza no ampara en la hora de la muerte. Entonces, ¿por qué el necio no habría de esforzarse por el fin verdaderamente supremo, como tú lo has hecho?
Dharmarāja (Yama)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis / implied pilgrims
Scene: A person holding coins and ornaments watches them slip through fingers as a funeral pyre is seen in the distance; the same person turns toward a Śiva shrine and Gaṅgā, symbolizing the ‘great aim’.
FAQs
Recognize mortality: since body and wealth fail at death, one should pursue the highest dharmic and liberating goal.
No individual tīrtha is named; it belongs to the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī-centered discourse on liberation and right striving.
No explicit ritual; it urges purposeful striving (prayatna) toward the ‘great work’—dharma and liberation.