Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 8
सवर्णया करो ग्राह्यो धार्यः क्षत्रियया शरः । प्रतोदो वैश्यया धार्यो वासोंतः पज्जया तथा
savarṇayā karo grāhyo dhāryaḥ kṣatriyayā śaraḥ | pratodo vaiśyayā dhāryo vāsoṃtaḥ pajjayā tathā
With a woman of one’s own varṇa, the hand is to be taken in marriage. With a Kṣatriya woman, an arrow is to be held; with a Vaiśya woman, a goad is to be held; and likewise with a Śūdra woman, the hem of a garment is to be held.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A marriage-rite tableau: the groom performs pāṇigrahaṇa; beside him are displayed the ritual tokens—hand clasp, arrow, goad, and garment hem—each associated with a bride of different varṇa, rendered as symbolic objects rather than literal hierarchy.
FAQs
Marriage is treated as a dharmic saṃskāra with prescribed forms; the rite signals social order and responsibility within household life.
Kāśī is the overarching sacred context of the teaching, though the verse itself focuses on marital procedure rather than a named tīrtha.
It prescribes what is to be ritually ‘held’ during the marriage act (hand/arrow/goad/garment hem), depending on varṇa.