Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 85
मानयामासुरथ तान्कुक्कुटान्साधुवर्त्मनः । प्राक्तनां वासनायोगात्संप्रधार्य परस्परम् । क्रमेणाहारमाकुंच्य प्राणांस्त्यक्ष्यंति चात्र वै
mānayāmāsuratha tānkukkuṭānsādhuvartmanaḥ | prāktanāṃ vāsanāyogātsaṃpradhārya parasparam | krameṇāhāramākuṃcya prāṇāṃstyakṣyaṃti cātra vai
അപ്പോൾ സദ്മാർഗത്തിൽ നിലകൊണ്ട ആ കുക്കുടങ്ങളെ അവർ ആദരിച്ചു. പൂർവ്വവാസനയുടെ യോഗത്താൽ പരസ്പരം ഗ്രഹിച്ച്, അവർ ക്രമേണ ആഹാരം കുറച്ച്, തീർച്ചയായും ഇവിടെ തന്നെ പ്രാണൻ ത്യജിക്കും।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, typically Skanda speaking to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kukkuṭamaṇḍapa (contextual; named explicitly in 48.88)
Type: ghat
Listener: Viṣṇu (dialogue implied by 48.86 address)
Scene: Kāśī residents respectfully tend and honor roosters behaving like sādhus; the birds, as if remembering past lives, communicate silently and begin a gradual fast leading to a holy death within the precinct.
FAQs
Spiritual resolve matures through vāsanā and mutual reinforcement; disciplined restraint can culminate in a sacred death in Kāśī oriented toward liberation.
The ‘here’ points to the Muktimaṇḍapa/Kukkuṭamaṇḍapa area within Kāśī-kṣetra.
Gradual reduction of food (āhāram ākuṃcya), akin to ascetic discipline and vrata observance.