Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 31
न ब्राह्मणोभवत्येष यतो वेदो न वेत्त्यमुम् । शस्त्रास्त्रधारणात्प्रायः क्षत्रियः स्यान्न सोप्ययम्
na brāhmaṇobhavatyeṣa yato vedo na vettyamum | śastrāstradhāraṇātprāyaḥ kṣatriyaḥ syānna sopyayam
ಇವನು ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣನಲ್ಲ; ಏಕೆಂದರೆ (ನನ್ನ ಮಾತಿನಂತೆ) ಅವನು ವೇದವನ್ನು ತಿಳಿಯುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಶಸ್ತ್ರಾಸ್ತ್ರಧಾರಣೆಯಿಂದ ಕ್ಷತ್ರಿಯನೆಂದು ಹೇಳಬಹುದು, ಆದರೆ ಇವನು ಅದೂ ಅಲ್ಲ.
Dakṣa (as reported in Skanda’s narration)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: A disputant asserts: ‘not brāhmaṇa—doesn’t know Veda; not kṣatriya though bearing weapons’; the visual tension shows Vedic manuscripts and weapons laid out, while a luminous liṅga in the background suggests the source of both knowledge and power.
FAQs
Spiritual authority is not limited to varṇa labels; contempt rooted in social pride becomes a doorway to grave offense.
No named tīrtha; the verse is part of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s moral-narrative instruction.
None.