Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 49
ब्रह्मचारी गृहस्थो वा वानप्रस्थोऽथ भिक्षुकः । एषामाधारभूतोसौ गृहस्थो नान्यथेति च
brahmacārī gṛhastho vā vānaprastho'tha bhikṣukaḥ | eṣāmādhārabhūtosau gṛhastho nānyatheti ca
Qu’on soit brahmacārin (étudiant chaste), maître de maison, ermite des bois ou mendiant: parmi eux tous, le maître de maison est le support même; il ne peut en être autrement.
Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa discourse)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A Kāśī householder stands at the threshold with water-pot and offerings, welcoming a brahmacārin and a bhikṣu; behind him a small domestic shrine with lamp and bilva leaves, suggesting the home as the hub of dharma.
FAQs
The householder’s dharma sustains society and enables the other āśramas; therefore it is foundational.
The verse is within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa framework, aligning household duty with the broader sanctity of Kāśī, though no single tīrtha is named in this line.
No specific rite is prescribed here; it establishes the social-spiritual hierarchy of the four āśramas.