Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 56
तावद्गर्जंति पापानि नरकास्तावदेव हि । तावन्मायासहस्राणि यावन्मासो पवासकः
tāvadgarjaṃti pāpāni narakāstāvadeva hi | tāvanmāyāsahasrāṇi yāvanmāso pavāsakaḥ
Die Sünden brüllen nur so lange — und die Höllen ebenso, wahrlich nur so lange. Ebenso bestehen tausendfache Täuschungen der Māyā nur, solange der Fastenmonat noch nicht vollendet ist.
Skanda (deduced)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A devotee in vrata austerity; personified sins as roaring beasts and hells as dark gates recede as a lunar month progresses; māyā as a veil tears apart at the vrata’s completion.
FAQs
Disciplined fasting breaks the momentum of sin, fear, and delusion; their power lasts only until the vow is fulfilled.
The shloka glorifies the purifying power of vow-time (a fasting month) within the chapter’s tīrtha-centered discourse.
A month-long upavāsa/abstinence discipline is implied as a practice that weakens sin and māyā.