Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 21
अहोनाहस्कराभावान्निशानैवाऽनिशाकरात् । अस्तंगतर्क्षान्नभसः कः कालस्त्वेप नेक्ष्यते
ahonāhaskarābhāvānniśānaivā'niśākarāt | astaṃgatarkṣānnabhasaḥ kaḥ kālastvepa nekṣyate
ಅಯ್ಯೋ! ಸೂರ್ಯಾಭಾವದಿಂದ ದಿನವೇ ಇಲ್ಲ; ಚಂದ್ರನಿಲ್ಲದೆ ರಾತ್ರಿಯೂ ರಾತ್ರಿಯಲ್ಲ. ನಕ್ಷತ್ರಮಂಡಲವೂ ಆಕಾಶದಿಂದ ಅಸ್ತವಾದಾಗ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಲದ ಯಾವ ಗುರುತು ಕಾಣುವುದು?
Narrator (lament/observation within Vyāsa’s narration by context)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī (implied)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Other inhabitants/elders (implied)
Scene: A sky without sun and without moon—only fading constellations sinking below the horizon; people look upward in alarm, unable to tell day from night.
FAQs
Time and duty are perceived through cosmic signs; when order collapses, dharmic life becomes unmoored—hence restoration of order is sacred work.
The Kāśī-khaṇḍa frame glorifies Kāśī overall, but this verse concerns universal time-signs rather than a particular tīrtha.
None directly, though the verse implies disruption of kala (proper ritual timing).