Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 4
ईश्वर उवाच । सच्छूद्रैरपि नो कार्या वेदाक्षरविचारणा । न श्रोतव्या न पठ्या च पठन्नरकभाग्भवेत्
īśvara uvāca | sacchūdrairapi no kāryā vedākṣaravicāraṇā | na śrotavyā na paṭhyā ca paṭhannarakabhāgbhavet
ഈശ്വരൻ അരുളിച്ചെയ്തു—സച്ചൂദ്രന്മാർക്കും വേദാക്ഷരവിചാരം ചെയ്യരുത്. അത് കേൾക്കരുത്, പാരായണം ചെയ്യരുത്; പാരായണം ചെയ്യുന്നവൻ നരകഭാഗിയാകും.
Īśvara (Śiva)
Listener: Skanda (and accompanying sages/audience implied)
Scene: A didactic assembly: Īśvara seated as teacher, speaking sternly about śāstra-boundaries; Skanda and sages listen; palm-leaf manuscripts and a sacrificial setting appear in the background to signal Vedic context.
FAQs
Within the text’s traditional framework, it asserts strict boundaries around Vedic study and recitation, linking transgression to negative karmic consequence.
No tīrtha is named; the verse is a normative instruction within the dialogue.
A prohibition regarding Vedic hearing/recitation and Veda-syllable analysis for those labeled sacchūdra.