Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 7
सप्तमेथाष्टमेवाब्दे सावित्रीं ब्राह्मणोर्हति । नृपस्त्वेकादशे वैश्यो द्वादशे वा यथाकुलम्
saptamethāṣṭamevābde sāvitrīṃ brāhmaṇorhati | nṛpastvekādaśe vaiśyo dvādaśe vā yathākulam
En el séptimo año —o en el octavo— el brāhmaṇa es apto para recibir la Sāvitrī (upanayana). El kṣatriya, como rey, en el undécimo; y el vaiśya en el duodécimo, o según la costumbre del linaje.
Skanda (contextual continuity)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: Upanayana ceremony: a boy with shaved head tuft, wearing yajñopavīta, receiving Sāvitrī/Gāyatrī instruction from guru; sacred fire, staff (daṇḍa), deer-skin, and a Kāśī ghat/temple silhouette behind.
FAQs
Initiation into Vedic discipline (Sāvitrī/upanayana) is time-bound and duty-oriented, forming the basis for dharmic life.
The verse belongs to the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī-centered dharma teaching, not to the praise of a single named shrine.
Upanayana/Sāvitrī eligibility: brāhmaṇa in year 7 or 8; kṣatriya in year 11; vaiśya in year 12, with allowance for family custom.