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 the bright fortnight one should increase the morsel day by day, and in the dark fortnight decrease it; and on the new-moon day one should eat nothing—this is the rule of the Cāndrāyaṇa observance.
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).