Adhyaya 117

The chapter begins with a layered transmission: Satyā asks Śrī Kṛṣṇa why Kārtika is supreme among months, and Kṛṣṇa points to an ancient proclamation preserved through Sūta and earlier conveyed to Śaunaka. Sūta then introduces an older dialogue in which Skanda (Ṣaṇmukha/Ṣaḍānana) seeks detailed instruction from Īśvara/Śiva on the Kārtika-vrata, Kārtika bathing, and allied Vaiṣṇava observances—lamp-offering, tulasī, gopī-candana, flowers, naivedya, tīrtha-water, Dīpāvalī and Prabodhinī rites, charity, and fasting. Śiva praises the question as uplifting to the world and declares Kārtika’s merit to surpass pilgrimages and gifts. Setting the teaching in the conditions of Kali-yuga, he explains the doctrine of bathing, naming four kinds—vāyavya, vāruṇa, divya, and brāhmya—along with notes on eligibility, and promises sin-destruction and the attainment of desired rewards through the baths of Kārtika and Māgha.