Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 46
तदर्धं रोगिणां चापि सुस्थे न्यूनं न कार येत् । अपि सर्वनदीतोयैर्मृत्कूटैश्चाप्यगोपमैः
tadardhaṃ rogiṇāṃ cāpi susthe nyūnaṃ na kāra yet | api sarvanadītoyairmṛtkūṭaiścāpyagopamaiḥ
त्याचेही अर्ध रोग्यांस योग्य; परंतु सुस्थाने त्याहून कमी करू नये. कोणत्याही नदीच्या जलाने व मातीच्या ढेकळांनी—विशेष तयार नसले तरी—शुद्धी करावी.
Anonymous Purāṇic narrator (Dharmāraṇya instructional passage; speaker not explicit in the excerpt)
Type: river
Scene: A convalescent pilgrim performs minimal cleansing with a small pot of river water and a simple clod of earth; beside him a healthy pilgrim performs the full measure.
FAQs
Dharma balances compassion and rigor: concessions exist for illness, but health requires full observance.
No particular river or tīrtha is singled out; it broadly permits river-water for purification.
The sick may do reduced śauca; the healthy should not reduce it; purification may be done using any river water and ordinary clods of earth.