Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 32
तपःकरण सामर्थ्यं स्थविरस्य न मे यतः । पुनस्तारुण्यमाप्तोहं चरिष्याम्युत्तमं तपः
tapaḥkaraṇa sāmarthyaṃ sthavirasya na me yataḥ | punastāruṇyamāptohaṃ cariṣyāmyuttamaṃ tapaḥ
Vì khi đã già, ta không còn đủ sức để hành trì khổ hạnh. Khi lấy lại tuổi trẻ, ta sẽ lại thực hành khổ hạnh tối thượng.
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.