Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 68
एकैकं वर्धयेद्ग्रासं शुक्ले कृष्णे च ह्रासयेत् । भुंजीत दर्शे नो किंचिदेष चांद्रायणो विधिः
ekaikaṃ vardhayedgrāsaṃ śukle kṛṣṇe ca hrāsayet | bhuṃjīta darśe no kiṃcideṣa cāṃdrāyaṇo vidhiḥ
In der hellen Monatshälfte soll man Tag für Tag einen Bissen hinzufügen, in der dunklen Monatshälfte ihn vermindern. Am Neumondtag aber esse man nichts—dies ist die Vorschrift des Cāndrāyaṇa-Gelübdes.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa discourse, typically Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (Gaṅgā-parva on Amāvāsyā)
Type: ghat
Listener: Pilgrimage-inquirer (general)
Scene: On amāvāsyā night at Kāśī, the sky is moonless; the vrati sits by a lamp on the ghat, fasting, performing japa and offering water (arghya/tarpaṇa) to the river; the next days show measured morsels changing with the pakṣa.
FAQs
Measured discipline culminating in new-moon restraint symbolizes surrender and renewal, reinforcing dharmic self-mastery.
The verse is situated in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī milieu; the focus is on vrata procedure rather than a named shrine.
Cāndrāyaṇa rule: increase daily intake in the bright fortnight, decrease in the dark fortnight, and fast completely on the new moon (darśa).