Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 16
चांद्रायणव्रतैः कृच्छ्रैर्भर्तुः शुश्रूषणैरपि । निनाय क्षणवत्कालमायुःशेषस्य सानघा
cāṃdrāyaṇavrataiḥ kṛcchrairbhartuḥ śuśrūṣaṇairapi | nināya kṣaṇavatkālamāyuḥśeṣasya sānaghā
سخت چندرایَن ورتوں اور کڑی تپسیا، اور شوہر کی عقیدت بھری خدمت کے باوجود بھی، وہ بےگناہ عورت باقی عمر کو یوں گزار گئی گویا وہ ایک لمحہ ہو۔
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.