Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 24
वसिष्ठ उवाच । नाहं क्षत्रियसंजातं ब्राह्मणं वच्मि पद्मज । न वधे मम शक्तोऽयं कथंचित्क्षत्रियोद्भवः
vasiṣṭha uvāca | nāhaṃ kṣatriyasaṃjātaṃ brāhmaṇaṃ vacmi padmaja | na vadhe mama śakto'yaṃ kathaṃcitkṣatriyodbhavaḥ
Vasiṣṭha berkata: "Wahai Yang Lahir dari Teratai, aku tidak memanggil seseorang yang lahir sebagai Kṣatriya seorang Brahmana. Lelaki kelahiran Kṣatriya ini sama sekali tidak mampu membunuhku."
Vasiṣṭha
Type: kshetra
Listener: Brahmā
Scene: Vasiṣṭha, serene yet unyielding, addresses Brahmā: he refuses to label a kṣatriya-born man a brāhmaṇa and declares his own invulnerability to Viśvāmitra’s violence.
FAQs
Spiritual authority (brāhma-tejas) is rooted in dharma and realization, not merely in birth-status or martial power.
The passage occurs within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya setting (Nāgara-khaṇḍa, Tīrtha-māhātmya), with the Sarasvatī riverbank as the scene in the surrounding verses.
No direct ritual instruction appears in this verse; it focuses on dharmic status and spiritual potency.