Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 9
ऋषय ऊचुः । क्षत्रियोऽपि कथं विप्रो विश्वा मित्रो महामते । वसिष्ठेन कथं नोक्तो यः प्रोक्तो ब्रह्मणा स्वयम्
ṛṣaya ūcuḥ | kṣatriyo'pi kathaṃ vipro viśvā mitro mahāmate | vasiṣṭhena kathaṃ nokto yaḥ prokto brahmaṇā svayam
The sages said: O great-minded one, though he was a kṣatriya, how did Viśvāmitra become a brāhmaṇa? And why was he not acknowledged by Vasiṣṭha, even though Brahmā himself had declared him so?
Ṛṣis (sages)
Listener: Sūta
Scene: A circle of sages, seated in a forest hermitage, question the bard Sūta about the paradox of Viśvāmitra’s brahminhood and Vasiṣṭha’s refusal to acknowledge it, with subtle cosmic witnesses implied (Brahmā’s decree).
FAQs
Dharma discourse tests authority, recognition, and transformation—asking how spiritual attainment is validated in tradition.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it continues the inquiry that contextualizes the Sarasvatī and later Narmadā sacred geography.
None; it is a theological-social question about brāhmaṇya and recognition.
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