Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 16
चांद्रायणव्रतैः कृच्छ्रैर्भर्तुः शुश्रूषणैरपि । निनाय क्षणवत्कालमायुःशेषस्य सानघा
cāṃdrāyaṇavrataiḥ kṛcchrairbhartuḥ śuśrūṣaṇairapi | nināya kṣaṇavatkālamāyuḥśeṣasya sānaghā
कठोर चांद्रायण-व्रते, तीव्र तपश्चर्या आणि पतीची निष्ठापूर्वक सेवा करूनही ती निष्पाप स्त्री उरलेले आयुष्य क्षणभरासारखे घालवीत होती।
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Listener: Śaunaka and the Naimiṣāraṇya sages (frame audience)
Scene: A sinless devoted woman, austere and composed, performing Cāndrāyaṇa and household service; the passage of time shown as a shrinking thread or setting sun, suggesting āyuḥ-śeṣa slipping away.
FAQs
Austerity (vrata/tapas) and faithful duty, when done with purity, have profound spiritual power over one’s lived experience of time and fate.
The surrounding passage belongs to the Maṇikarṇikā-māhātmya of Kāśī, though this verse itself highlights vrata and service rather than a site-action.
Cāndrāyaṇa-vrata and severe kṛcchra-type austerities, along with devoted service to one’s husband.