Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 54
शूद्रस्य भार्या शूद्रैव सा च स्वा च विशः स्मृते । ते च स्वा चैव राज्ञस्तु ताश्च स्वाचाग्रजन्मनः
śūdrasya bhāryā śūdraiva sā ca svā ca viśaḥ smṛte | te ca svā caiva rājñastu tāśca svācāgrajanmanaḥ
L’épouse d’un Śūdra n’est qu’une femme Śūdra ; elle seule lui est propre. Pour un Vaiśya, la femme Vaiśya est tenue pour son épouse légitime. Ces mêmes femmes conviennent aussi à un roi (Kṣatriya) ; et celles de ces classes conviennent également à celui de naissance plus élevée (Brāhmaṇa).
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A didactic tableau: four varṇas represented with distinct attire; a teacher points to a palm-leaf text; couples stand in orderly rows indicating prescribed marital pairing.
FAQs
It presents a traditional dharma framework for marriage compatibility as understood in the text’s social-ritual order.
No tīrtha is mentioned; the verse is a social-dharma rule within Kāśī Khaṇḍa.
It states norms for whom each varṇa may take as a ‘proper’ wife, as framed by the passage.