Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 33
स्त्रीबालशूद्राः श्वपचाधमाश्च प्राग्जन्मसंस्कारवशाद्धि धर्म्म । योनिं पापिषु वर्त्तमानास्तथापि शुद्धा मनुजा भवंति
strībālaśūdrāḥ śvapacādhamāśca prāgjanmasaṃskāravaśāddhi dharmma | yoniṃ pāpiṣu varttamānāstathāpi śuddhā manujā bhavaṃti
O Dharma, Frauen, Kinder, Śūdras und selbst jene, die man unter den śvapacas für die Niedrigsten hält—durch die Kraft der Prägungen (saṃskāras) aus früheren Geburten—obwohl sie jetzt in als „sündhaft“ bezeichneten Umständen oder Geburten verweilen, werden dennoch zu geläuterten Menschen.
Śiva (Śaṅkara)
Tirtha: Kedāra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Dharmarāja (addressed as ‘Dharma’)
Scene: Skanda’s compassionate instruction: diverse figures—women, children, Śūdras, and a śvapaca—stand as pilgrims near a sacred stream, receiving respectful acknowledgment; Dharmarāja listens, humbled.
FAQs
Inner purity and spiritual capacity are not confined to outward status; past merit and saṃskāra can manifest as present purification.
No specific tīrtha is named; the verse supports tīrtha-mahātmya theology by asserting that purity and eligibility for upliftment can arise in anyone drawn by prior merit.
None stated; the emphasis is doctrinal—purity can arise through prior saṃskāra despite adverse conditions.