Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 64
नक्तं समाचरेत्पोष्यैः सार्धं सुप्रीतमानसः । प्रातश्चतुर्थ्यां संभोज्य चतुरश्च कुमारकान्
naktaṃ samācaretpoṣyaiḥ sārdhaṃ suprītamānasaḥ | prātaścaturthyāṃ saṃbhojya caturaśca kumārakān
রাত্রিতে আনন্দচিত্তে নিজের আশ্রিতদের সঙ্গে এই ব্রত পালন করবে। তারপর চতুর্থী তিথির প্রভাতে চার জন কুমারকে ভোজন করাবে।
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context) to Agastya
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra (vrata setting)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Śaunaka and Naimiṣāraṇya sages (frame implied)
Scene: Nighttime household/pilgrim camp in Kāśī with lamps; the observant person maintains the rite with family/dependents; at dawn of caturthī, four young boys are seated and served a sanctified meal.
FAQs
Vows should expand into care and nourishment of others; feeding the young becomes an embodied form of worship and merit.
The instruction is situated in the Kāśī-khaṇḍa milieu; the verse itself is a vrata procedure rather than a tīrtha-stuti.
Night observance (nakta) with dependents, followed by feeding four boys on the morning of Caturthī.