Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 44
यज्ञः पलायितो दृष्टः केनचिन्मृगरूपधृक् । शिरोविरहितश्चक्रे तेन चक्रेण दूरतः
yajñaḥ palāyito dṛṣṭaḥ kenacinmṛgarūpadhṛk | śirovirahitaścakre tena cakreṇa dūrataḥ
ยัญญะผู้เป็นบุคคลถูกเห็นว่าหนีไปโดยแปลงเป็นกวาง; แล้วผู้หนึ่งฟันจนเขากลายเป็นไร้ศีรษะ และด้วยการตัดนั้นเขาถูกผลักไสไปไกล
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Scene: The personified Yajña bolts away as a deer; a pursuer strikes, and the deer becomes headless—its severed head implied off-frame—while the body is driven far, dust rising behind.
FAQs
Sacrifice that abandons its true ‘head’—right worship and humility—becomes directionless and is scattered.
No specific Kāśī tīrtha is named in this verse; it is an illustrative myth within Kāśī Khaṇḍa’s Śaiva frame.
None; it is a mythic depiction of yajña’s failure when severed from proper devotion.