Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 71
श्रावयेद्वैदिकं मंत्रं न शूद्राय कदाचन । ब्राह्मण्याद्धीयते विप्रः शूद्रो धर्माच्च हीयते
śrāvayedvaidikaṃ maṃtraṃ na śūdrāya kadācana | brāhmaṇyāddhīyate vipraḥ śūdro dharmācca hīyate
শূদ্ৰক শুনাবলৈ কেতিয়াও বৈদিক মন্ত্ৰ নপঢ়িব, নাশুনুৱাব। এনে আচৰণে বিপ্ৰ ব্ৰাহ্মণ্যৰ পৰা হ্ৰাস পায়, আৰু শূদ্ৰো ধৰ্মৰ পৰা বিচ্যুত হয় বুলি কোৱা হয়।
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A traditional pāṭhaśālā setting in Kāśī: a brāhmaṇa teacher recites Veda to eligible students; at the doorway, others receive a Purāṇic kathā or Śiva-nāma instruction; the scene conveys guarded transmission and alternative inclusive devotion.
FAQs
It frames mantra-transmission as a regulated tradition and warns that violating the rule harms dharmic standing.
The guidance is situated in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s dharma-instructions for Kāśī, rather than a named tīrtha.
Do not teach/recite Vedic mantras for a Śūdra to hear (as per this passage’s traditional injunction).