Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 81
तथा तपस्विनः शूद्राः शूद्रा धर्मपरायणाः । शूद्रा वेदविचारज्ञा यज्ञकर्मणि चोद्यताः
tathā tapasvinaḥ śūdrāḥ śūdrā dharmaparāyaṇāḥ | śūdrā vedavicārajñā yajñakarmaṇi codyatāḥ
Ebenso gibt es Śūdras, die wie Asketen leben; Śūdras, die dem Dharma ergeben sind; Śūdras, die die Veden zu erörtern verstehen; und Śūdras, die eifrig die Opferhandlungen (yajña) vollziehen.
Skanda (deduced; exact speaker not explicit in snippet)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A tīrtha on a riverbank: ascetic Śūdras with matted hair and waterpots; others engaged in Veda-discussion in a shaded pavilion; a small yajña-vedī with offerings and smoke; pilgrims watching with reverence.
FAQs
The passage portrays a world of altered norms; it frames these shifts as part of a broader narrative of social transformation in an age of decline.
No tīrtha is named in this verse; it remains within the general tīrthamāhātmya discourse of Adhyāya 27.
No explicit prescription; yajña is mentioned descriptively (engagement in sacrificial work), not as an instruction.