Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 73
निशीथिनीषु शिशिरे श्रयंती सारसं रसम् । मेने सा सारसैः केयमुद्यताद्येति पद्मिनी
niśīthinīṣu śiśire śrayaṃtī sārasaṃ rasam | mene sā sārasaiḥ keyamudyatādyeti padminī
நள்ளிரவுக் குளிரில் அவள் தாமரையின் சாரரசத்தை ஆதாரமாகக் கொண்டிருந்தாள்; அன்னப்பறவைகளுக்கு அவள் இன்று நீரிலிருந்து எழுந்த தாமரைமங்கை போலத் தோன்றினாள்।
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (lotus-water tirtha implied)
Type: kund
Scene: At midnight in winter, near a lotus-filled waterbody, the maiden sustains herself on lotus essence; swans on the water look toward her as if she were a lotus-maiden emerging anew.
FAQs
Purity born of tapas is likened to the lotus—untouched by hardship and luminous even in cold darkness.
The Kāśī setting continues; the verse uses natural imagery to magnify the sanctity and austerity within the kṣetra.
No explicit ritual; a form of austere sustenance (living on “lotus-essence”) is poetically indicated.