Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 5
ततश्चैव तपस्तेपे वैराग्यं परमं गतः । अहं वार्द्धक्यमापन्ना कौमार्येऽपि च संस्थिता
tataścaiva tapastepe vairāgyaṃ paramaṃ gataḥ | ahaṃ vārddhakyamāpannā kaumārye'pi ca saṃsthitā
“Lalu ia menjalankan tapa dan mencapai vairāgya yang tertinggi. Adapun aku—meski masih dalam masa gadis—telah jatuh ke dalam usia tua.”
Karṇotpalā
Tirtha: Gaurīpāda-sthāna (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis
Scene: A split narrative: (1) the father as an ascetic performing tapas, lean and resolute; (2) Kārṇotpalā, youthful in attire yet with an aged visage, conveying premature old age; Devī listens, poised to remedy.
FAQs
Austerity and renunciation transform the sufferer, while divine grace can also address bodily decline when sought righteously.
The tīrtha context is ongoing but unnamed in this verse; later verses indicate a sacred water-reservoir (jalāśaya) for the remedy.
Tapas (austerity) is mentioned as the father’s practice; the bathing rite is prescribed later.