Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 67
कृत्वा कुशमयीं पत्नीं मठे ये गृहमेधिनः । भैक्षवृत्तिरताः शुद्धा मठरास्ते तु साधकाः
kṛtvā kuśamayīṃ patnīṃ maṭhe ye gṛhamedhinaḥ | bhaikṣavṛttiratāḥ śuddhā maṭharāste tu sādhakāḥ
Les chefs de maison qui, demeurant dans un maṭha, se façonnent une «épouse» d’herbe kuśa, vivent d’aumônes et demeurent purs—ces pratiquants sont connus comme des sādhakas «Maṭharā».
Sūta (deduced, Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa narrative style)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: sages
Scene: Inside a monastery near Prabhāsa, a disciplined householder-sādhaka keeps a simple kuśa-grass effigy representing a ‘wife’, lives on alms, and performs daily purification; the setting is sparse, orderly, and serene.
FAQs
Renunciation can be practiced even by those of a ‘householder’ designation through purity, restraint, and alms-based simplicity.
Prabhāsakṣetra, portrayed as hosting diverse dharmic lifestyles dedicated to sacred discipline.
Living in a maṭha with strict purity and sustaining oneself by bhikṣā (alms), with symbolic renunciant arrangements (kuśa-made ‘wife’).