Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 8
ब्रह्मतेजोभिवृद्ध्यर्थं विप्रोब्देपंचमेर्हति । षष्ठे बलार्थी नृपतिर्मौजीं वैश्योष्टमे ध्रियेत्
brahmatejobhivṛddhyarthaṃ viprobdepaṃcamerhati | ṣaṣṭhe balārthī nṛpatirmaujīṃ vaiśyoṣṭame dhriyet
For the increase of brahmanical radiance (tejas), a brāhmaṇa is fit to receive the sacred girdle in the fifth year; a kṣatriya king, seeking strength, in the sixth; and a vaiśya should wear the muñja-girdle in the eighth.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Scene: A guru in a simple āśrama setting measures and ties the muñja-girdle on a young initiate; three boys of different varṇas are shown with distinct emblems—brāhmaṇa with palm-leaf, kṣatriya with bow, vaiśya with scales/grain—while Kāśī’s ghāṭas shimmer in the distance as a symbolic backdrop.
FAQs
Right timing and right discipline strengthen one’s inner radiance—brahmacarya begins with proper saṃskāra performed according to dharma.
The immediate verse is a dharma-instruction within the Kāśī Khaṇḍa framework; the broader setting is Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as the field where dharma and purity are upheld.
Eligibility ages for receiving/wearing the mekhalā (muñja-girdle), part of upanayana and brahmacārin observance.