Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 53
बलिपुष्टैरपुष्टांगा रटतः करटाः कटु । वलिभिश्चातिपुष्टांगैरबलाश्चंचुभिर्हताः
balipuṣṭairapuṣṭāṃgā raṭataḥ karaṭāḥ kaṭu | valibhiścātipuṣṭāṃgairabalāścaṃcubhirhatāḥ
बलि से पुष्ट होकर भी कुछ के अंग दुर्बल थे और वे कटु स्वर में चिल्लाते थे; और कुछ भोग-विलास से अत्यन्त स्थूल होकर निर्बलों की चोंचों से आहत हो गए।
Skanda (deduced, Kāśī-khaṇḍa context: Skanda to Agastya)
Type: kund
Listener: Śaunaka and sages (frame) / within episode: Agastya addressed later
Scene: A flock of distressed birds—some gaunt despite offerings, others overfed—crying harshly in the sky, struck and tumbling toward a sacred pond below; pilgrims watch from the bank.
FAQs
Worldly conditions—weakness or excess—still bind beings to suffering; the narrative prepares the listener for the liberating power of a Kāśī tīrtha.
This verse is part of the lead-up to the kuṇḍa that becomes renowned as Haṃsatīrtha near Kṛttivāseśvara in Kāśī.
No direct ritual is prescribed in this verse; it narrates distress that culminates in the revelation of the tīrtha’s saving power.