Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 84
सप्तवर्षा भवेद्गौरी नववर्षा तु नग्निका । दशवर्षा भवेत्कन्या ह्यत ऊर्ध्वं रजस्वला
saptavarṣā bhavedgaurī navavarṣā tu nagnikā | daśavarṣā bhavetkanyā hyata ūrdhvaṃ rajasvalā
সাত বছরে সে ‘গৌরী’, নয় বছরে ‘নগ্নিকা’; দশ বছরে ‘কন্যা’ বলা হয়, আর তার ঊর্ধ্বে সে ‘রজস্বলা’ গণ্য।
Skanda (deduced from Prabhāsa-kṣetra Māhātmya narrative style)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis of Naimiṣāraṇya (typical frame)
Scene: A dharma-teaching scene in a tīrtha assembly: elders or a sage enumerates stages of girlhood with didactic gestures; background shows Prabhāsa’s coastal sacred landscape and a Somnātha-like shrine silhouette.
FAQs
The text encodes dharma guidance through age/life-stage categories, aiming to preserve order in saṃskāras and ritual life.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra is the broader Māhātmya setting; dharma teachings are presented as supportive of tīrtha merit and Pitṛ welfare.
No direct prescription; it provides age-based definitions used in deciding appropriateness for traditional rites.