Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 44
गृध्रयोरामिषं गृध्न्वोः परस्परजयैषिणोः । अवापतत्पादगुल्फं कंकचंचुपुटात्तदा
gṛdhrayorāmiṣaṃ gṛdhnvoḥ parasparajayaiṣiṇoḥ | avāpatatpādagulphaṃ kaṃkacaṃcupuṭāttadā
Tandis que les deux vautours, avides de chair et cherchant chacun la victoire sur l’autre, se battaient, la cheville et le pied tombèrent alors du bec d’un oiseau kaṅka.
Maheśvara (Śiva) (continuing narration)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā in Kāśī (implied destination)
Type: river
Listener: null
Scene: Two vultures locked in combat; from a third bird’s beak (kaṅka) the ankle-foot slips and tumbles downward toward the unseen river, emphasizing gravity and fate.
FAQs
The body’s end is depicted as ignoble when life lacks dharma; the narrative prepares the contrast of sacred grace versus mere worldly decay.
The verse itself does not name a tīrtha, but it sets up the next moment where the limb falls toward the Gaṅgā—central to Kāśī’s sacred geography.
None directly.