Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 5
यदु दुग्धनिधिं निमथ्यदेवैर्मृदुसारः समकर्षि पूर्णचंद्रः । स बभूव कृशो वियोगतप्तेश्वरमूर्धोष्मपरिक्षरच्छरीरः
yadu dugdhanidhiṃ nimathyadevairmṛdusāraḥ samakarṣi pūrṇacaṃdraḥ | sa babhūva kṛśo viyogatapteśvaramūrdhoṣmaparikṣaraccharīraḥ
神々が乳海を攪拌して柔らかな精髄――満月――を引き出したとき、その月さえもやつれた。主の御頭から立ちのぼる熱に身が溶けるかのようで、（カーシーとの）離別の痛みに灼かれていた。
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: The Ocean of Milk churning yields the full Moon; yet the Moon appears wan and thinned, as if melting under the heat rising from Śiva’s head—an allegory of Kāśī-viraha scorching even the cool lunar essence.
FAQs
Even cosmic powers like the Moon are portrayed as affected by Śiva’s intense love for Kāśī, highlighting Kāśī’s supreme sanctity and Śiva’s intimate bond with it.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), presented as so dear to Śiva that separation from it generates a world-affecting “heat” of longing.
None explicitly; the verse is a poetic mahātmya-style praise illustrating Kāśī’s greatness through Śiva’s viraha (separation).