Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 40
कन्यां भुंक्ते रजःकालेऽग्निः शशी लोमदर्शने । स्तनोद्भेदेषु गंधर्वास्तत्प्रागेव प्रदीयते
kanyāṃ bhuṃkte rajaḥkāle'gniḥ śaśī lomadarśane | stanodbhedeṣu gaṃdharvāstatprāgeva pradīyate
रजःकाले कन्यां वह्निरुपभुङ्क्ते इति श्रूयते; लोमदर्शने शशी, स्तनोद्भेदेषु गन्धर्वाः। अत एव सा तदानीमेव पूर्वं प्रदत्ता इव मन्यते।
Skanda (deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa: Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: Allegorical tableau of three thresholds: Agni at the onset of menses, Soma at first body-hair, Gandharvas at budding breasts—shown as symbolic guardians of transitions, not literal acts; a sage narrates the doctrine.
FAQs
It mythologizes life-stages to argue that marital/ritual considerations should align with dharma and proper timing.
The verse belongs to Kāśīkhaṇḍa’s Kāśī-centered dharma instruction; no single tirtha is named here.
It implies prescriptions about appropriate timing/eligibility connected with kanyādāna and marriage.