Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 32
तपःकरण सामर्थ्यं स्थविरस्य न मे यतः । पुनस्तारुण्यमाप्तोहं चरिष्याम्युत्तमं तपः
tapaḥkaraṇa sāmarthyaṃ sthavirasya na me yataḥ | punastāruṇyamāptohaṃ cariṣyāmyuttamaṃ tapaḥ
वृद्धपणी तप करण्याचे सामर्थ्य माझ्यात नाही। पुन्हा तारुण्य प्राप्त करून मी पुनः उत्तम तप आचरीन।
Skanda (narrating); statement voiced by Vṛddhahārīta
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: An aged ascetic in Kāśī, leaning on a staff near a ghat, vows to resume supreme austerity upon regaining youth; the river and temple spires frame the resolve.
FAQs
Spiritual discipline requires strength and resolve; the devotee values youth chiefly as a means to pursue higher tapas.
Implicitly Kāśī, as the arena where such transformative spiritual aims are pursued and fulfilled.
Undertaking ‘uttama tapaḥ’ (higher austerity) is the stated discipline, without a named vrata in this verse.