Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 70
ज्वरो व्यतीते षडहे जीर्णज्वर इहोच्यते । असौ चिन्ताज्वरस्तीव्रः प्रत्यहं नवतां व्रजेत्
jvaro vyatīte ṣaḍahe jīrṇajvara ihocyate | asau cintājvarastīvraḥ pratyahaṃ navatāṃ vrajet
ఆరు దినాలు గడిచినా తగ్గని జ్వరాన్ని జీర్ణజ్వరమని అంటారు. కాని ఈ ‘చింతాజ్వరం’ మహాతీవ్రమైనది; అది ప్రతిదినం మరింత కొత్తగా, మరింత బలంగా పెరుగుతుంది॥
Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa context, addressing Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and other Ṛṣis (contextual)
Scene: A pilgrim in Kāśī sits near a ghat, visibly restless; behind him the river flows calmly, contrasting the ‘fever’ of the mind with the coolness of Gaṅgā and the steadiness of Śiva’s city.
FAQs
Worldly worry behaves like a worsening disease; it must be treated at the root through spiritual clarity rather than mere delay.
The wider Kāśī-māhātmya frame points to Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), where refuge in Viśveśa is upheld as the remedy for fear and distress.
No explicit ritual is stated in this verse; it diagnoses the condition (cintā-jvara) as the basis for later counsel on śaraṇāgati (taking refuge).