Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 3
सूत उवाच । अशक्तो नियमं कर्तुं सुकुमारो भवेत्तु यः । तेन तत्र प्रकर्तव्यं विख्यातं भीष्मपंचकम्
sūta uvāca | aśakto niyamaṃ kartuṃ sukumāro bhavettu yaḥ | tena tatra prakartavyaṃ vikhyātaṃ bhīṣmapaṃcakam
Sūta dit : «Celui qui ne peut accomplir la discipline entière, ou dont le corps est délicat, doit y pratiquer la célèbre observance de cinq jours appelée Bhīṣma-pañcaka.»
Sūta
Type: kshetra
Listener: assembled sages/pilgrims
Scene: Sūta, as narrator, formally announces the remedy: the renowned Bhīṣma-pañcaka, a five-day vow, to be performed there by the delicate-bodied or those unable to keep full rules.
FAQs
Dharma is compassionate: when strict vows are difficult, a recognized shorter vrata may be adopted with sincerity.
The verse sits within Tīrtha-māhātmya context but does not name a specific tīrtha in this line; it frames practice “there” within the chapter’s sacred setting.
Perform the famed Bhīṣma-pañcaka—an alternative five-day observance for those unable to keep stricter niyamas.