Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 17
यावदब्दसहस्रेण निराहारेण वै फलम् । त्यजता प्राप्तमाहारं लब्धं ते क्षणमात्रतः
yāvadabdasahasreṇa nirāhāreṇa vai phalam | tyajatā prāptamāhāraṃ labdhaṃ te kṣaṇamātrataḥ
“Whatever fruit is gained by fasting without food for a thousand years—by renouncing the food that had come to you, you have obtained that very fruit in just a moment.”
Brahmā
Scene: Brahmā declares a paradoxical equivalence: a thousand-year fast’s fruit gained in a moment by giving up food that had arrived; the Daitya is shown near food, hesitating, then withdrawing his hand.
FAQs
Inner resolve and timely renunciation can yield the merit of long austerities; sincerity can compress spiritual ‘time’.
No tīrtha is mentioned; the verse praises the power of renunciation as tapas.
Fasting/food-renunciation (nirāhāra, āhāra-tyāga) is referenced as an austerity, though without a formal vrata sequence.