Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 71
यावदास्यगतास्म्यस्य यावत्खस्थो न भूमिगः । तावदात्मविमुक्त्यैवमरेः पादं दृढं दश
yāvadāsyagatāsmyasya yāvatkhastho na bhūmigaḥ | tāvadātmavimuktyaivamareḥ pādaṃ dṛḍhaṃ daśa
“Selama aku masih berada di dalam paruhnya, dan selama ia masih melayang di udara belum menyentuh tanah, demi pembebasanmu sendiri gigitlah kaki musuh itu sekuat-kuatnya.”
Skanda (deduced narrator voice; quoted instruction of the wife within the story)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Purāṇic audience (contextual)
Scene: Mid-air, the captive bird bites the hawk’s foot with full force while still in the beak; the hawk recoils, balance disturbed, a dramatic turning point in the sky.
FAQs
Dharma is not passivity; in crisis, righteous self-effort (udyama) applied at the right moment creates the possibility of freedom.
The verse is embedded in the Kāśī-khaṇḍa’s teaching narrative; it does not name a specific tīrtha in this line.
None; the ‘prescription’ here is narrative counsel about action, not a ritual.