Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 85
मानयामासुरथ तान्कुक्कुटान्साधुवर्त्मनः । प्राक्तनां वासनायोगात्संप्रधार्य परस्परम् । क्रमेणाहारमाकुंच्य प्राणांस्त्यक्ष्यंति चात्र वै
mānayāmāsuratha tānkukkuṭānsādhuvartmanaḥ | prāktanāṃ vāsanāyogātsaṃpradhārya parasparam | krameṇāhāramākuṃcya prāṇāṃstyakṣyaṃti cātra vai
அப்போது நல்வழியில் நிலைத்திருந்த அந்த சேவல்களை அவர்கள் மதித்தனர். முன்னைய வாசனைகளின் தொடர்பால் ஒருவரையொருவர் உணர்ந்து, அவர்கள் படிப்படியாக உணவைச் சுருக்கி, நிச்சயமாக இங்கேயே உயிர்வாயுவைத் துறப்பார்கள்।
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.