Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 11
ऋतुकालाभिगमनं धर्मोयं गृहिणः परः । स्त्रीणां वरमनुस्मृत्य यथाकाम्यथवा भवेत्
ṛtukālābhigamanaṃ dharmoyaṃ gṛhiṇaḥ paraḥ | strīṇāṃ varamanusmṛtya yathākāmyathavā bhavet
Approaching one’s own wife in the proper season is the highest dharma of the householder. Remembering what is best for women, one should act in accord with her willing desire—or else refrain.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A serene household scene: a couple in a clean, lamp-lit room with a small domestic altar; a calendar/lotus motif indicates ṛtukāla; the husband’s gesture shows respectful inquiry and the wife’s consenting nod, with restraint symbolized by prayer beads set aside when not appropriate.
FAQs
Marital life is dharma when governed by right timing, restraint, and consideration—self-control and mutual propriety are treated as spiritual discipline.
The instruction belongs to the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s dharma teaching in Kāśī; no particular tīrtha is named in this verse.
It prescribes ṛtukālābhigamana—conjugal approach during the proper season—as a householder’s key duty.