Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 45
अजाश्वयोर्मुखं मेध्यं गावो मेध्यास्तु पृष्ठतः । पादतो ब्राह्मणा मेध्याः स्त्रियो मेध्यास्तु सर्वतः
ajāśvayormukhaṃ medhyaṃ gāvo medhyāstu pṛṣṭhataḥ | pādato brāhmaṇā medhyāḥ striyo medhyāstu sarvataḥ
Chez les chèvres et les chevaux, la bouche est rituellement pure ; chez les vaches, le dos est pur ; chez les brāhmaṇa, les pieds sont purs ; mais les femmes sont pures en tous points.
Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa: Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages/pilgrims (implied)
Scene: A symbolic panel showing a cow with highlighted back, a horse and goat with highlighted mouths, a brāhmaṇa with highlighted feet, and a woman depicted as fully radiant—illustrating ritual ‘mēdhya’ loci as an instructional diagram in a dharma discourse.
FAQs
It asserts a dharmic taxonomy of purity, culminating in the claim of comprehensive ritual purity for women.
Kāśī is the overarching sacred frame (Kāśīkhaṇḍa), though the verse is doctrinal rather than geographical.
A rule of ritual classification (medhya/śuddhi) is provided for different beings/body-parts.