Skandapurana 4.42

Agastya said:

How is Death known to be near at hand, O son of Hara?

Tell me, who am inquiring, some of those signs. // 1

Kumāra said:

I will tell the signs of Death that appear to embodied beings

when death has approached near; hear them, O sage! // 2

He in whose southern nostril the breath blows day and night

incessantly, his life-span wastes away indeed within three years. // 3

[If] the sun[-breath] flows continuously for a day and a night, or for three days and nights,

the limit of his life here is said to be one year. // 4

If the wind should blow continuously in both nostrils for ten days,

with a solar transit occurring along with it, he would live for three days. // 5

If, leaving both nasal passages, the breath blows from the mouth,

one should announce his departure on the road [of death] in less than two days. // 6

Since death may suddenly become imminent,

that time of death should be contemplated with effort by one who fears death. // 7

When the sun is in the seventh sign and the moon is in the birth asterism,

and the sun[-breath] flows in the southern [nostril], that time is to be regarded as lethal. // 8

One who suddenly catches sight of a dark and reddish-brown man,

and at that very moment [sees him] formless, he will live for two years. // 9

He whose semen, feces, and urine, or sneeze, urine, and feces,

fall all at once here, his life-span is held to be one year. // 10

He who sees in the sky a group of serpents resembling sapphire,

gliding here and there, does not live six months. // 11

On a cloudless day, with a mouth full of water, having turned his back to the sun,

blowing it out forcefully, if one does not see a rainbow, one's life is six months. // 12

Arundhatī, Dhruva, and the three strides of Viṣṇu,

and fourth, the circle of the Mothers: one near to death does not see these. // 13

Arundhatī is the tongue; Dhruva is declared to be the tip of the nose.

The footsteps of Viṣṇu are between the eyebrows; the circle of mothers is in the eyes.

If one perceives of a color such as blue, or a taste such as pungent or sour,

a sudden alteration, he meets death in six months.

For a mortal whose death is in six months, the throat, lips, tongue, and teeth,

along with the palate as the fifth, constantly dry up and lose their luster.

If semen, fingernails, and the corners of the eyes take on a dark blue color,

then a man will depart for the city of Yama in the sixth month.

If, when sexual intercourse is underway, in the middle or at the end, a man sneezes,

he will certainly become a guest of Dharmarāja in the fifth month.

If a three-colored lizard swiftly mounts upon one's head

and runs off, his lifespan comes to an end in six months.

One whose chest dries quickly even after a good bath,

or whose feet or hands do so, his life lasts three months.

One whose reflection has the shape of a broken or incomplete footprint,

whether in dust or in mud, lives for five months.

One whose shadow trembles even while the bodily posture is still,

the messengers of Death bind that man in the fourth month.

Whoever does not see the head of his own reflection

in water, ghee, a mirror, and the like, perishes in one month.

If the intellect fails, speech falters, Indra's bow [is seen] without clouds,

two moons [are seen] at night and two suns by day,

the disk of stars by day, the sky devoid of stars at night,

and the circle of Indra's bow in all four directions at once;

an abode of the city of Gandharvas on a tree or on a mountain peak,

and the dance of piśācas by day—these are the causes of death.

If one sees even a single one among all these signs,

then death waits for the limit of a month, and no more.

When one whose ears are blocked with his hands hears no sound,

or a stout man [becomes] emaciated and an emaciated man stout, then he passes away in a month.

Whoever sees his own shadow inclined toward the southern quarter,

having lived for five days, he meets his death.

One who is carried off or devoured by piśācas, asuras, crows,

bhūtas, pretas, dogs, vultures, jackals, donkeys, pigs,

asses, young camels, monkeys, hawks, mules, or herons

in a dream, having abandoned life, beholds Yama at the end of a year.

A man who sees his own body adorned with perfumes,

flowers, and red garments at the time of a dream, lives for eight months, alas!

Whoever in a dream mounts a heap of dust, an anthill,

or a sacrificial post, perishes in the sixth month.

Whoever sees himself mounted on an ass, smeared with oil and shaven-headed,

being led toward the quarter of Yama, or sees his ancestors in a dream;

a man who, while dreaming, sees grass or dry wood

on his own head or on his body, does not survive past the sixth month.

Whoever sees before himself a dark man clad in black garments

and holding an iron club, cannot cross three months.

Whom a dark maiden binds in a dream with arm-nooses,

he will behold the city inhabited by Yama in a month.

A man who, mounted on a monkey, goes toward the eastern direction while asleep,

in just five days he will see the city of Saṃyaminī.

If a miser becomes generous, or a generous person a miser,

if there is an alteration of one's nature, then he meets death.

These are the signs of death; there are many others as well.

Having recognized them, a man should practice yoga, or else take refuge in Kāśī.

I know of no other means to deceive Death, O sage,

except the Conqueror of Death, the Lord of Kāśī, who prevents [re-entry into] the womb.

Sins roar only so long, King Yama roars only so long,

as a man does not zealously go for refuge to Viśveśa.

Having reached the abode of Viśveśvara, having drunk the water flowing toward the north,

and having touched the noble liṅga of Viśveśa, who does not become venerable?

What will enraged Death do to men who reside in Kāśī?

where Śiva himself whispers the mantra into the ear at the time [of death]? .. 44 ..

Just as infancy passes away, and just as childhood is gone,

likewise youth is swiftly fleeting, and old age too arrives. .. 45 ..

Before old age seizes [him], before the failure of the sense organs [occurs],

a wise man should abandon everything worthless and take refuge in Kāśī. .. 46 ..

Let other signs of Death remain aside, O pitcher-born one!

Old age itself is the first sign, and yet remarkably there is no fear of it! .. 47 ..

For one who is overcome by old age is disdained by everyone,

like a destitute man whose ruby of youth has been stolen away. .. 48 ..

Sons do not obey his word; even a wife abandons her love;

kinsmen have no regard for a man embraced by old age. .. 49 ..

Seeing him embraced by old age, another woman becomes suspicious;

even an affectionate, passionate woman constantly turns her face away. .. 4.1.42.50 ..

There is no disease like old age; there is no sorrow equal to old age.

The bringer of humiliation, old age is death itself for men. .. 51 ..

Time is not conquered in such a way by tapas or methods of yoga

as it is conquered over a long time by dwelling in Kāśī. .. 52 ..

Without sacrifices, without gifts, without observances, recitations, and the like,

without abundant stores of great merit, who can hope to reach Kāśī? .. 53 ..

Attaining Kāśī is this yoga; attaining Kāśī is this tapas;

attaining Kāśī is this gift; attaining Kāśī is oneness with Śiva. .. 54 ..

What is the Kali age, or what is Death? What is old age, and what is misdeed?

What are illnesses, or what are obstacles, if Vārāṇasī has been resorted to? .. 55 ..

The Kali age oppresses only those, and Time seeks to kill only those, .. 56 ..

and sins afflict only those who have not taken refuge in Kāśī.

Those by whom Kāśī has been resorted to, and by whom Viśveśvara has been worshipped,

having attained saving knowledge, they are liberated from the bonds of karma. .. 57 ..

Wealthy men anywhere never obtain such happiness

as one who has died in Kāśī attains imperishable bliss. .. 58 ..

Better is an inhabitant of Kāśī than one seated in the realm of the celestials:

the former attains an end to suffering; the latter attains an end to happiness. .. 59 ..

Though staying on Mount Mandara with its lovely caves,

the blessed Lord found no delight without Kāśī, where King Divodāsa resided. .. 4.1.42.60 ..

Thus ends the forty-second chapter, named 'Means of Cheating Time', in the first half of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, in the fourth section of the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses]. .. 42 ..