Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 5
ससैन्यान्पांडवानेतान्हन्यात्कालेन केन कः । मासेन तु प्रतिज्ञातं भीष्मेण च कृपेण च
sasainyānpāṃḍavānetānhanyātkālena kena kaḥ | māsena tu pratijñātaṃ bhīṣmeṇa ca kṛpeṇa ca
‘ഈ പാണ്ഡവരെ അവരുടെ സൈന്യത്തോടുകൂടി ആരാണ്, എത്ര സമയത്തിനകം വധിക്കാനാകുക?’ കാരണം ഭീഷ്മനും കൃപനും ‘ഒരു മാസത്തിനകം’ എന്ന് പ്രതിജ്ഞ ചെയ്തിരുന്നു.
Duryodhana (question framed within Sūta’s narration)
Tirtha: Kurukṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: Duryodhana, troubled, questions who can kill the Pāṇḍavas with their armies and in what time; Bhīṣma and Kṛpa are shown as elder warriors who have pledged a month; the mood is ominous, with shadowed tents and anxious faces.
FAQs
Boasts and deadlines in violent aims reveal attachment to victory; dharma warns that outcomes are not mastered by mere pledges.
None; the verse is about war strategy and promises.
None; it mentions a martial ‘pratijñā’ (pledge), not a religious vrata.