Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 44
यज्ञः पलायितो दृष्टः केनचिन्मृगरूपधृक् । शिरोविरहितश्चक्रे तेन चक्रेण दूरतः
yajñaḥ palāyito dṛṣṭaḥ kenacinmṛgarūpadhṛk | śirovirahitaścakre tena cakreṇa dūrataḥ
Le Yajña, le Sacrifice personnifié, fut vu s’enfuyant en prenant la forme d’un cerf ; quelqu’un le frappa et le rendit sans tête, et par cette entaille il fut chassé au loin.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Scene: The personified Yajña bolts away as a deer; a pursuer strikes, and the deer becomes headless—its severed head implied off-frame—while the body is driven far, dust rising behind.
FAQs
Sacrifice that abandons its true ‘head’—right worship and humility—becomes directionless and is scattered.
No specific Kāśī tīrtha is named in this verse; it is an illustrative myth within Kāśī Khaṇḍa’s Śaiva frame.
None; it is a mythic depiction of yajña’s failure when severed from proper devotion.