Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 9
निजभालतलं कलानिधेः कलया नित्यमलंकरोति यः । स तदीश्वरमप्यतापयद्विधुरेको विपरीत एव तु
nijabhālatalaṃ kalānidheḥ kalayā nityamalaṃkaroti yaḥ | sa tadīśvaramapyatāpayadvidhureko viparīta eva tu
Siya na laging nag-aadorno sa sariling noo ng isang bahagi ng Panginoon ng mga kalā—ang Buwan—yaong Buwan ding iyon, sa kakaibang baligtad, ang siyang nagpaliyab ng pagdurusa maging sa kanyang Panginoon.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)
Type: kshetra
Listener: null
Scene: Close focus on Śiva’s forehead: the crescent Moon that usually cools and beautifies is shown as strangely ‘heating’ the Lord—an artistic paradox with contrasting cool lunar glow and warm anguish aura.
FAQs
The ‘paradox’ underscores the intensity of Kāśī’s pull: even the Moon—Śiva’s ornament—becomes a cause in the narrative of longing, magnifying Kāśī’s greatness.
Kāśī, as the implied object of separation that triggers this cosmic paradox.
None.