Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 56
अप्रणम्य महेशानमकृत्वापि प्रदक्षिणम् । अद्यापि न निवर्तंते गताः प्राग्वासरा इव
apraṇamya maheśānamakṛtvāpi pradakṣiṇam | adyāpi na nivartaṃte gatāḥ prāgvāsarā iva
Không cúi lạy Maheśāna, lại chẳng hề làm pradakṣiṇā, những kẻ đã ra đi đến nay vẫn không trở lại—như những ngày đã trôi qua rồi.
Narrator (deduced: Skanda to Agastya in Kāśīkhaṇḍa)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī / Viśveśvara-sannidhi
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis/assembly (contextual)
Scene: A pilgrim at Kāśī stands before Maheśāna (Viśveśvara liṅga), hands folded; behind, the river-city and the sense of time passing like fading calendar leaves, underscoring ‘days gone never return’.
FAQs
Time and opportunity once lost may not return; therefore, complete essential worship before moving on.
Kāśī’s Mahādeva-centered sacred geography is the underlying context, presenting worship as the key to auspicious travel and return.
Bowing (praṇāma) to Śiva and performing pradakṣiṇā are explicitly prescribed by implication.