Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 7
सप्तमेथाष्टमेवाब्दे सावित्रीं ब्राह्मणोर्हति । नृपस्त्वेकादशे वैश्यो द्वादशे वा यथाकुलम्
saptamethāṣṭamevābde sāvitrīṃ brāhmaṇorhati | nṛpastvekādaśe vaiśyo dvādaśe vā yathākulam
ਸੱਤਵੇਂ—ਜਾਂ ਅੱਠਵੇਂ—ਵਰ੍ਹੇ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ ਸਾਵਿਤ੍ਰੀ (ਉਪਨਯਨ) ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤ ਕਰਨ ਯੋਗ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ। ਕਸ਼ਤਰੀ (ਨ੍ਰਿਪ) ਗਿਆਰ੍ਹਵੇਂ ਵਿੱਚ, ਅਤੇ ਵੈਸ਼੍ਯ ਬਾਰ੍ਹਵੇਂ ਵਰ੍ਹੇ ਵਿੱਚ—ਜਾਂ ਕੁਲ-ਰੀਤ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ।
Skanda (contextual continuity)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: Upanayana ceremony: a boy with shaved head tuft, wearing yajñopavīta, receiving Sāvitrī/Gāyatrī instruction from guru; sacred fire, staff (daṇḍa), deer-skin, and a Kāśī ghat/temple silhouette behind.
FAQs
Initiation into Vedic discipline (Sāvitrī/upanayana) is time-bound and duty-oriented, forming the basis for dharmic life.
The verse belongs to the Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī-centered dharma teaching, not to the praise of a single named shrine.
Upanayana/Sāvitrī eligibility: brāhmaṇa in year 7 or 8; kṣatriya in year 11; vaiśya in year 12, with allowance for family custom.