Skandapurana 4.4.16.7

4.4.16.7

She should avoid eggplant, sūraṇa yam, and velvet bean. // 88
In Kārttika she should avoid oil, in Kārttika she should avoid honey, / in Kārttika she should avoid bell-metal, and in Kārttika she should avoid fermented food. // 89
During a vow of silence in Kārttika, she should present a beautiful bell; / if she has vowed to eat from leaves, she presents a bell-metal vessel filled with clarified butter. // 90
Under the vow of sleeping on the ground, a smooth bed with a mattress should be given; / upon abstaining from fruits, fruit should be given; upon abstaining from flavors, that flavor; // 91
upon abstaining from grain, that grain—or else fine rice is prescribed; / she should diligently give milk-cows adorned with ornaments and gold. // 92
All gifts on one side, and the gift of a lamp on the other: / [all gifts] do not equal a sixteenth part of the gift of a lamp in Kārttika. // 93
When the sun has slightly risen, she should perform the Māgha ritual ablution; / and one who performs the Māgha ritual ablution should undertake religious observances according to her ability. // 94
She should feed brahmins, ascetics, and practitioners of austerities with cooked foods: / with laḍḍukas, pheṇikās, vaṭakas, iṇḍarikās, and the like, // 95
cooked in clarified butter, seasoned with pepper, perfumed with pure camphor, / filled inside with sugar, pleasing to the eyes, and fragrant. // 96
She should also give loads of dry firewood to dispel the cold, / a bodice stuffed with cotton, a soft mattress, and a fine sacred thread, // 97
garments dyed with madder, and cotton cloths, / and many betel leaves with nutmeg and cloves, // 98
variegated blankets, rooms free of drafts, / soft footwear, and fragrant unguents, // 99
preceded by great ritual ablutions, with worship using clarified butter and blankets, / with incenses such as black agallochum burnt in the inner sanctum, // 100
with lamps of thick wicks, and likewise with diverse offerings of food; / and she should say, “May the Lord, who is the true form of my husband, be pleased.” // 1
With such various vows and observances, a widow / should thus spend the months of Vaiśākha, Kārttika, and Māgha. // 2