Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 9
असवर्णस्त्वेष विधिः स्मृतो दृष्टश्च वेदने । सवर्णाभिस्तु सर्वाभिः पाणिर्ग्राह्यस्त्वयं विधिः
asavarṇastveṣa vidhiḥ smṛto dṛṣṭaśca vedane | savarṇābhistu sarvābhiḥ pāṇirgrāhyastvayaṃ vidhiḥ
This procedure is remembered and also found in authoritative teaching for inter-varṇa unions. But for all women of the same varṇa, the rule here is that the hand alone is to be taken as the proper rite.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A teacher points to a palm-leaf manuscript labeled ‘Smṛti’ and ‘Veda’; two parallel wedding scenes: savarṇa couple with hand-taking only, and asavarṇa couple with symbolic token gesture, emphasizing ‘vidhi-bheda’.
FAQs
Dharma is conveyed as a rule-governed sacrament; the text differentiates exceptional procedures from the standard, emphasizing normative discipline in household rites.
The teaching is situated within Kāśī’s sacred discourse, but no particular tīrtha is singled out in this verse.
It reaffirms pāṇigrahaṇa (taking the bride’s hand) as the proper procedure for same-varṇa marriages, while noting alternate procedure for inter-varṇa unions.