Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 67

Devanagari script

एकैकं ह्रासयेद्ग्रासं कृष्णे शुक्ले च वर्धयेत् । उपस्पृशं स्त्रिषवणमेतच्चांद्रायणं स्मृतम्

Transliteration

ekaikaṃ hrāsayedgrāsaṃ kṛṣṇe śukle ca vardhayet | upaspṛśaṃ striṣavaṇametaccāṃdrāyaṇaṃ smṛtam

Translation

In der dunklen Monatshälfte soll man Tag für Tag den Bissen verringern, und in der hellen Monatshälfte Tag für Tag vermehren; verbunden mit rituellem Schlürfen (ācamana/upaspṛśa) zu den drei Sandhyās—dies gilt als das Cāndrāyaṇa-Gelübde.

Word by Word

• ekaikam: one by one
• ekaikam: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अव्ययीभावार्थे ‘one by one’ (क्रियाविशेषणवत्)

• hrāsayet: should decrease
• hrāsayet: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √hras (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; causative sense ‘should reduce’

• grāsam: a mouthful
• grāsam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: grāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• kṛṣṇe: in the dark fortnight
• kṛṣṇe: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛṣṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; पक्ष-नाम (कृष्णपक्षे)

• śukle: in the bright fortnight
• śukle: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śukla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; पक्ष-नाम (शुक्लपक्षे)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• vardhayet: should increase
• vardhayet: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vṛdh (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; causative sense ‘should increase’

• upaspṛśam: sipping (water)/ācamana
• upaspṛśam: Kriyāviśeṣya (Apposition/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: upa-√spṛś (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (घञ्/अ-प्रत्ययान्त भाव/कर्म-नाम), नपुंसकलिङ्ग द्वितीया/प्रथमा एकवचन; ‘touching water’ = ācamana

• triṣavaṇam: three times daily
• triṣavaṇam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक) + savana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा, एकवचन; द्विगु (त्रीणि सवनानि यस्य) = three-times-a-day

• etat: this
• etat: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; निर्देश-सर्वनाम

• cāndrāyaṇam: the cāndrāyaṇa vow
• cāndrāyaṇam: Kriyāviśeṣya (Predicate complement/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cāndrāyaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; व्रत-नाम

• smṛtam: is considered
• smṛtam: Kriyā (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √smṛ (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय, past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग प्रथमा एकवचन; ‘is remembered/considered’

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa discourse, typically Skanda to Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer (general)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A month-cycle montage: the vrati at a Kāśī ghat performs ācamana at dawn-noon-dusk; above, the moon phases arc across the sky while his food portion shrinks then grows in measured morsels.

Characters & Entities

• Cāndrāyaṇa
• Sandhyā (triṣavaṇa implied)

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Aligning one’s discipline with the lunar rhythm cultivates harmony with cosmic order and steadies the senses through gradual restraint.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The practice is taught within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī setting, where such vows are presented as dharmic supports for spiritual progress.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Cāndrāyaṇa: decrease one morsel daily in the dark fortnight, increase daily in the bright fortnight, and perform triṣavaṇa ācamana.