Skandapurana 4.4.16.6

4.4.16.6

The braid of a widow's hair leads to the binding of her husband; / therefore, a widow should always shave her head. // 74
She should always take only one meal [a day], never a second; / or she should observe a fast of three nights, five nights, or a fortnight, // 75
or she should undertake a fast for a month, or perform the cāndrāyaṇa; / or she should perform the severe kṛcchra, or the taptakṛcchra. // 76
With barley foods, with a diet of fruits, with a diet of vegetables, or with diets restricted to milk, / she should sustain life until her life-breath departs of its own accord. // 77
A woman who sleeps on a bedstead, being a widow, brings about her husband's downfall; / therefore, she should sleep on the bare ground with the desire for her husband's welfare. // 78
Nor should anointing the body be done at any time by a widowed woman; / further, application of fragrant substances should never be done by her. // 79
Each day she must offer water libations to her husband with kuśa grass, sesame, and water, / and likewise to his father and his grandfather, reciting their name and gotra. // 80
Moreover, the worship of Viṣṇu should be performed with the contemplation that he is her husband, and not otherwise; / she should constantly meditate on her husband alone as Hari bearing the form of Viṣṇu. // 81
Whatever is most cherished in the world and whatever was desired by her husband, / that she should bestow upon a virtuous man, desiring to please her husband. // 82
In the months of Vaiśākha, Kārttika, and Māgha, she should observe special vows: / ritual ablution, giving of gifts, pilgrimage to sacred fords, and repeated recitation of Viṣṇu's name. // 83
Water pitchers in Vaiśākha, lamps of clarified butter in Kārttika, / and offerings of grain and sesame in Māgha are celebrated as leading to heaven. // 84
A water shed should be set up in Vaiśākha, and a dripping water-pot offered to the god; / shoes, a fan, an umbrella, fine garments, sandalwood paste, // 85
betel with camphor, as well as the gift of flowers, / many water-vessels, and houses decorated with flowers, // 86
various drinks, and fruits such as grapes and plantains / should be given to the foremost of brahmins, saying, “May my husband be pleased.” // 87
In the month of Ūrja, she should eat barley food, or only one meal a day.