Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 57
न ब्राह्मणो वेदपाठान्न शास्त्रपठनादपि । देव्यास्त्रिकालमभ्यासाद्बाह्मणः स्याद्धि नान्यथा
na brāhmaṇo vedapāṭhānna śāstrapaṭhanādapi | devyāstrikālamabhyāsādbāhmaṇaḥ syāddhi nānyathā
फक्त वेदपाठाने किंवा शास्त्रवाचनाने कोणी खरा ब्राह्मण होत नाही; देवी (गायत्री)चा त्रिकाल अभ्यास केल्यानेच ब्राह्मण होतो—अन्यथा नाही.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context: Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sages/pilgrims (contextual)
Scene: A didactic scene: a scholar reciting texts stands beside a practitioner performing sandhyā at dawn; Gāyatrī’s light crowns the practitioner, illustrating that lived practice completes learning.
FAQs
Spiritual identity is grounded in disciplined daily practice and purity of conduct, not only in scholarship.
The setting is Kāśīkhaṇḍa; the verse teaches dharma relevant to Kāśī’s sacred life, rather than naming a particular tīrtha.
Trikāla-abhyāsa of the Devī—understood as thrice-daily Sandhyā practice centered on Gāyatrī.