Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 29
आमौलिं वाऽललाटंवाऽनासमूर्ध्वप्रमाणतः । ब्रह्मक्षत्रविशां दंडस्त्वगाढ्योनाग्निदूषितः
āmauliṃ vā'lalāṭaṃvā'nāsamūrdhvapramāṇataḥ | brahmakṣatraviśāṃ daṃḍastvagāḍhyonāgnidūṣitaḥ
दण्डस्य प्रमाणं मौलिपर्यन्तं वा ललाटपर्यन्तं वा, अथवा नासोर्ध्वभागपर्यन्तं भवेत्। ब्राह्मणक्षत्रविशां दण्डो दृढः स्थूलश्च, अग्निदूषितो न भवेत्।
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Dharma-seeking audience
Scene: An ācārya measures a student’s staff against the student’s body (nose/forehead/crown), inspecting it for firmness and absence of burn marks; the scene is set in a Kāśī gurukula courtyard near the river.
FAQs
Spiritual discipline includes careful adherence to measure, fitness, and purity—outer correctness supports inner restraint.
Kāśī is the setting of the teaching; the sacred city is presented as a place where dharma is precisely taught and practiced.
It prescribes acceptable lengths of the staff and requires it to be sturdy and not fire-damaged.