Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 36
धर्मस्तु रक्षितः सर्वैरपिदेहव्ययेन च । शिबिप्रभृतिभूपालैर्दधीचिप्रमुखैर्द्विजैः
dharmastu rakṣitaḥ sarvairapidehavyayena ca | śibiprabhṛtibhūpālairdadhīcipramukhairdvijaiḥ
แต่ธรรมะนั้นได้รับการพิทักษ์โดยชนทั้งหลาย แม้ต้องสละกายก็ยอม ทั้งโดยกษัตริย์ผู้เริ่มด้วยพระศิพี และโดยพราหมณ์ผู้เริ่มด้วยทธีจิ
Skanda (deduced, Kāśī-khaṇḍa norm: Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: Two emblematic tableaux: King Śibi offering his own flesh to save a dove from a hawk; Sage Dadhīci offering his bones for the devas’ weapon—both framed as luminous dharma-protection, with Kāśī’s sanctified ambience as the moral stage.
FAQs
True Dharma may demand self-sacrifice; the highest exemplars protect it even by giving up the body.
The verse supports the Kāśī Mahātmya’s message that Dharma—especially nurtured by Kāśī-sevā—is the supreme aim worth any cost.
No explicit rite; it praises the virtue of Dharma-rakṣaṇa (upholding Dharma) as the core practice.