Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 27
अथोंकृत्यावहेलं वा यामि चेच्च कथंचन । क्रोधान्निरीक्षेत्त्र्यक्षो मां विषं पेयं तदा मया
athoṃkṛtyāvahelaṃ vā yāmi cecca kathaṃcana | krodhānnirīkṣettryakṣo māṃ viṣaṃ peyaṃ tadā mayā
یا اگر میں حقارت سے بس ایک ‘ہوں’ کر کے کسی طرح چلا بھی جاؤں، پھر اگر سہ چشم پروردگار غضب سے مجھ پر نظر ڈالے تو میرے لیے زہر پی لینا ہی بہتر ہوگا۔
Mārtaṇḍa (Sūrya)
Tirtha: Mandara (Mandarācala) / Śiva-sannidhi (implied)
Type: peak
Listener: null
Scene: Mārtaṇḍa imagines uttering a contemptuous ‘hūṃ’; instantly the scene darkens as Śiva’s three-eyed gaze turns fierce—so dreadful that poison seems preferable. The contrast between a tiny figure and cosmic wrath dominates.
FAQs
Contempt toward the Divine is spiritually ruinous; reverence and completion of duty are safer than defiant action.
The verse continues the Kāśī framework; it does not name a distinct tīrtha but reinforces Śiva’s sovereignty within the kṣetra.
None; ‘drinking poison’ is a hyperbolic expression of dread, not a ritual instruction.