Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 32
मरुत्वतातिमहती चिंताऽप्ता तत्तपोभयात् । मत्पदं चेदकांक्षिष्यदहरिष्यद्ध्रुवं धुवः
marutvatātimahatī ciṃtā'ptā tattapobhayāt | matpadaṃ cedakāṃkṣiṣyadahariṣyaddhruvaṃ dhuvaḥ
उस तपस्या के भय से मरुतों की महान् सेना चिंता से ग्रस्त हो गई—‘यदि ध्रुव मेरे पद की आकांक्षा करेगा, तो निश्चय ही उसे छीन लेगा।’
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa norm: Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and sages
Scene: A vast assembly of Maruts, radiant wind-deities, gather in agitation; their faces show worry as they sense the heat of Dhruva’s austerity rising like a pillar of energy, threatening established celestial stations.
FAQs
Tapas born of devotion can surpass worldly and heavenly power; even gods grow uneasy before genuine spiritual merit.
Kāśī-kṣetra is the narrative sacred frame, implicitly praised as a place where tapas yields extraordinary results.
No explicit ritual; the verse underscores the consequence of intense austerity rather than prescribing a ceremony.