Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 21
स्त्रीशूद्राणां तदर्धं च तदर्ध बालवृद्धयोः । मृन्मयानां च भांडानां परित्यागो निवेदितः
strīśūdrāṇāṃ tadardhaṃ ca tadardha bālavṛddhayoḥ | mṛnmayānāṃ ca bhāṃḍānāṃ parityāgo niveditaḥ
സ്ത്രീകൾക്കും ശൂദ്രർക്കും അതിന്റെ പകുതി (പ്രായശ്ചിത്തം) എന്നു പറഞ്ഞു; കുട്ടികൾക്കും വൃദ്ധർക്കും അതിന്റെയും പകുതി; കൂടാതെ മൺപാത്രങ്ങൾ ഉപേക്ഷിക്കണമെന്നും നിർദേശിച്ചു.
Unspecified narrator
Type: kshetra
Scene: A household scene: elders advise that women and śūdras undertake half-penance; children and the aged are shown resting; attendants carry away cracked earthen pots to be discarded outside the settlement.
FAQs
Dharma applies with discernment: austerities are adjusted according to capacity and vulnerability, while maintaining the aim of purity.
The verse is part of Nāgarakhaṇḍa’s Tīrthamāhātmya; it addresses purification practice rather than a named tīrtha.
Reduced (fractional) penances for women/śūdras and further reduction for children/elderly, plus discarding earthen utensils.