Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 65
मांगल्यमभिषेकं च मलमासे विवर्जयेत् । नित्यनैमित्तिके कुर्यात्प्रयतः सन्मलिम्लुचे । तीर्थे स्नानं गज च्छायां प्रेतश्राद्धं तथैव च
māṃgalyamabhiṣekaṃ ca malamāse vivarjayet | nityanaimittike kuryātprayataḥ sanmalimluce | tīrthe snānaṃ gaja cchāyāṃ pretaśrāddhaṃ tathaiva ca
In malamāsa one should avoid auspicious māṅgalya rites and consecratory anointings (abhiṣeka). Yet, disciplined, one should still perform the obligatory daily and occasional duties (nitya and naimittika) even in that malimluca month. Also commended are bathing at a tīrtha, giving “gaja-chāyā” charity, and performing śrāddha for the recently departed.
Sūta (deduced from Purāṇic narration style within Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A calendrical scene: a priest points to a lunar calendar marked ‘malamāsa’; a wedding/abhiṣeka is shown deferred, while devotees perform daily worship, bathe at a tīrtha, offer charity labeled ‘gaja-chāyā’, and conduct a simple preta-śrāddha.
FAQs
Avoid ostentatious ‘auspicious’ ceremonies in malamāsa, but never neglect obligatory dharma; tīrtha-bathing and pitṛ-duties remain meritorious.
Tīrtha-snāna is praised within the Prabhāsakṣetra-māhātmya, implying pilgrimage bathing at Prabhāsa and related sacred waters.
Avoid māṅgalya and abhiṣeka in malamāsa; continue nitya/naimittika karmas; perform tīrtha-snāna, gaja-chāyā dāna, and preta-śrāddha.