Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 4
ईश्वर उवाच । सच्छूद्रैरपि नो कार्या वेदाक्षरविचारणा । न श्रोतव्या न पठ्या च पठन्नरकभाग्भवेत्
īśvara uvāca | sacchūdrairapi no kāryā vedākṣaravicāraṇā | na śrotavyā na paṭhyā ca paṭhannarakabhāgbhavet
Īśvara said: “Even ‘good śūdras’ should not deliberate upon the letters of the Veda. It should neither be listened to nor recited; one who recites becomes a sharer in hell.”
Īśvara (Śiva)
Listener: Skanda (and accompanying sages/audience implied)
Scene: A didactic assembly: Īśvara seated as teacher, speaking sternly about śāstra-boundaries; Skanda and sages listen; palm-leaf manuscripts and a sacrificial setting appear in the background to signal Vedic context.
FAQs
Within the text’s traditional framework, it asserts strict boundaries around Vedic study and recitation, linking transgression to negative karmic consequence.
No tīrtha is named; the verse is a normative instruction within the dialogue.
A prohibition regarding Vedic hearing/recitation and Veda-syllable analysis for those labeled sacchūdra.