Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 44
स्थिरापायः सदा कायो न धनं निधनेऽवति । तन्मूढः प्रौढकार्ये किं न यतेत भवानिव
sthirāpāyaḥ sadā kāyo na dhanaṃ nidhane'vati | tanmūḍhaḥ prauḍhakārye kiṃ na yateta bhavāniva
この身は常に滅びへと向かい、財もまた死の時には守りとならぬ。されば、迷える者が真に大いなる目的のために励まぬ理由があろうか—あなたがなしたように。
Dharmarāja (Yama)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis / implied pilgrims
Scene: A person holding coins and ornaments watches them slip through fingers as a funeral pyre is seen in the distance; the same person turns toward a Śiva shrine and Gaṅgā, symbolizing the ‘great aim’.
FAQs
Recognize mortality: since body and wealth fail at death, one should pursue the highest dharmic and liberating goal.
No individual tīrtha is named; it belongs to the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī-centered discourse on liberation and right striving.
No explicit ritual; it urges purposeful striving (prayatna) toward the ‘great work’—dharma and liberation.