Skandapurana 4.37

Skanda said:

A householder constantly enjoys happiness if his wife possesses auspicious marks.

Therefore, for the sake of the increase of happiness, one should first examine the marks.

The body, curls of hair, fragrance, complexion, temperament, voice, gait,

and color: this eightfold basis of bodily marks has been taught by the wise.

Beginning from the soles of the feet up to the hair on the head, in order,

I shall describe the auspicious and inauspicious marks; listen, O sage!

First the sole of the foot and lines; then the big toe, toes, and nails;

the upper foot, both ankles, the heels, shanks, hairs, and both knees;

the thighs, waist, buttocks, hips, vulva, pelvis, and bladder;

the navel, both flanks, the sides, abdomen, waist, and the three folds;

the line of hair on the abdomen, the heart, chest, both breasts, and the nipples;

the collarbones, shoulders, armpits, arms, wrists, and both hands;

the back of the hand, the palm, lines, thumb, fingers, and nails;

the back, the nape of the neck, the throat, the chin, and both jaws;

both cheeks, the mouth, the lower and upper lips, teeth, and tongue;

the uvula, palate, laughter, nose, sneezing, and the two eyes;

the eyelashes, brows, ears, forehead, crown of the head, parting of the hair, and the hairs of the head:

these sixty-six are the true mine of characteristics of women's limbs.

The sole of women's feet that is glossy, fleshy, soft, even,

free from sweat, warm, and red is remembered as fit for abundant pleasures.

Rough, discoloured, harsh, leaving broken footprints,

shaped like a winnowing basket, and parched, indicates grief and misfortune.

[A line] like a discus, svastika, conch, lotus, banner, fish, or parasol,

on whose sole such a line exists, she becomes a king's wife.

An upward line reaching to the middle toe brings unbroken enjoyment;

a line resembling a mouse, snake, or crow indicates sorrow and poverty.

An elevated, fleshy, and round big toe gives matchless pleasure;

crooked, short, and flat, it destroys happiness and good fortune.

By a broad one she becomes a widow; by an excessively long big toe, unfortunate.

Soft toes are praised, [as are] dense, rounded, and elevated ones.

With long toes she is an unchaste woman; with emaciated ones, extremely destitute;

with short ones she is short-lived; with crooked ones she acts deceitfully;

with flat ones she becomes a servant; with spaced toes, poor.

If toes of the feet overlap one another,

she will kill even many husbands and then become another's servant.

She while walking along a path kicks up dust from the ground—

she becomes an unchaste woman, the destroyer of three families.

Whose little toe does not touch the ground as she walks,

that woman kills her husband and takes a second husband.

Whose ring toe or middle toe does not touch the ground,

the former slays two husbands, and the latter three husbands;

both these cause loss of husband if they are deficient.

Whose second toe extends beyond the big toe,

she is an unchaste woman even from maidenhood; this is indeed the certainty.

Glossy, elevated, coppery, and round toenails are auspicious.

The high instep of women indicates queenship,

free from sweat and without prominent veins, smooth, soft, and fleshy.

[She is] poor with one sunken in the middle; with a veined one, constantly wandering on the road;

with one full of hair she becomes a servant; and with one devoid of flesh, unfortunate.

Hidden ankles, free of veins and well-rounded, are said to bring good;

uneven, loose, and visible ones indicate misfortune.

A woman with even heels is auspicious, and one with broad heels is unfortunate;

one with high heels is unchaste, and one with long heels suffers sorrow.

Whose shanks are hairless, even, glossy, tapering and round,

she becomes a queen, if they are veinless and enchanting.

A woman with one hair [per pore] is a queen, and with two hairs brings happiness;

one with three hairs in the hair-pores suffers the sorrow of widowhood.

A pair of knees that is round and compact with flesh is praised;

fleshless knees belong to a promiscuous woman, and loose ones to one who is poor.

With thighs free of veins, shaped like an elephant's trunk, smooth, compact,

well-rounded, and devoid of hair, women become beloved of kings.

Widowhood is declared from hairy thighs, and misfortune from flat ones;

great sorrow from thighs with a gap between them, and poverty from those with hard skin.

A waist measuring twenty-four finger-breadths is praised,

adorned with prominent hips, and well-proportioned for fawn-eyed women.

A waist that is bent, flat, long, fleshless, or not narrow,

short, or covered with hair, indicates sorrow and widowhood for a woman.

The circle of hips of women that is elevated, fleshy, and broad

is declared to bring great pleasure; any other is considered to bring distress.

Round like the wood-apple fruit, soft, fleshy, and firm,

buttocks free of folds increase the pleasure of love.

A vulva resembling the back of a tortoise or like the shoulder of an elephant is auspicious;

elevated on the left, it produces daughters; elevated on the right, it produces sons.

With mouse-fine hair, a hidden clitoris, well-joined, compact, broad,

elevated, resembling a lotus petal, and shaped like a leaf of the sacred fig tree, it is auspicious.

That which has the shape of a deer's hoof, or resembles the interior of a hearth,

hairy, wide-mouthed, and with a visible clitoris, brings great misfortune. // 39

A woman whose vulva turns like a conch shell does not desire conception here;

one that is flat or shaped like a skull causes the state of a servant girl. // 40

That which resembles a bamboo or reed leaf, with coarse hair and a high clitoris,

deformed, crooked in form, and with hanging lips, is likewise inauspicious. // 41

The mons pubis, the region above the vulva, broad, elevated, fleshy,

soft, endowed with fine hair, and turning clockwise, is praised. // 42

Turning counter-clockwise, fleshless, and bent, it indicates widowhood;

narrow, rough, and uneven, the mons pubis always causes sorrow. // 43

The lower abdomen is auspicious if wide, soft, and slightly elevated;

hairy, veiny, and marked with lines, it is not auspicious at all. // 44

A deep navel turning to the right leads to happiness and wealth;

turning to the left, shallow, and with an obvious protrusion, it is not auspicious. // 45

A woman with a broad belly bears many sons and becomes an abode of happiness;

with a belly resembling a frog, she brings forth a son who is a ruler of the earth. // 46

With an elevated belly, or one possessing folds, or marked by a whorl,

a woman in this world becomes respectively barren, an ascetic, or a maidservant. // 47

With flanks that are even, equally fleshy, soft, auspicious, and with hidden ribs,

she undoubtedly becomes a storehouse of good fortune and happiness. // 48

A woman whose flanks have visible veins, are elevated, and covered with hair,

becomes childless, ill-behaved, and a treasure of sorrow. // 49

With a belly that is very slight, veinless, and with soft skin,

a woman becomes rich in enjoyments, perpetually enjoying sweet food. // 50

The belly of an impoverished woman is pot-shaped or resembles a drum,

like a pumpkin or a barleycorn, and is hard to satisfy in a woman. // 51

A woman with a very large belly is childless and unfortunate;

a woman with a hanging belly kills her father-in-law and her brother-in-law. // 52

Slender in the waist, endowed with three folds, she is fortunate and rich in pleasures;

she who has a straight and delicate line of hair is a source of joy and delight. // 53

A line of hair that is tawny, crooked, thick, and broken

causes theft, widowhood, and misfortune to women here. // 54

A woman whose chest is hairless, even, and free from depressions

attains prosperity, freedom from widowhood, and the love of her beloved. // 55

A woman with a broad chest is unchaste and likewise cruel;

one whose chest has sprouted hair certainly kills her husband. // 56

A chest that is eighteen finger-breadths wide, plump, and high

leads to happiness; hairy, uneven, and broad, it causes grief. // 57

Breasts that are firm, round, solid, plump, and symmetrical are praised;

having thick tips, widely separated, and dry, they do not bring happiness to fair-thighed women. // 58

A woman whose right breast is higher has sons and is considered pre-eminent;

one whose left breast is elevated gives birth to a daughter beautiful in good fortune. // 59

Breasts resembling the pots of a waterwheel indicate wickedness;

fleshy-tipped, widely spaced, and broad at the margins, they are not auspicious. // 60

Breasts thick at the base, gradually tapering, and sharp at the tip,

give happiness in early life, but afterwards bring extreme sorrow. // 61

A firm pair of nipples is praised, dark and well-rounded;

sunken inwards, long, or thin, they lead to suffering. // 62

With fleshy collarbones, a bride becomes a treasure of wealth and grain;

with loose bones, sunken, or uneven ones, she becomes impoverished. // 63

Shoulders that are flexible, sloping, not too long, and not emaciated are auspicious;

crooked, thick, and hairy, they indicate servitude and widowhood. // 64

Shoulders with concealed joints, sloping ends, and well-knit are auspicious;

having equally raised ends, they cause widowhood; fleshless, they bring great misery. // 65

In the armpits, fine hair, elevated, smooth, and fleshy [parts]

are praised; deep, veiny, and moist with sweat, they are not praised. // 66

The arms of doe-eyed women should be faultless, tender with hidden bones and joints,

veinless, hairless, and straight. // 67

Coarse-haired, they cause widowhood; short, they indicate bad luck;

arms with clearly visible veins cause distress to women. // 68

Having the form of a lotus bud, facing toward the thumb and fingers,

the two hands of fawn-eyed women lead to abundant enjoyment. (69)

Soft, elevated in the center, red, without gaps [between the fingers],

the palm of the hands is praised when rich in auspicious lines, having few lines, and possessing auspicious fortune. (4.1.37.70)

She becomes a widow by having many lines, poor by having no lines,

and indeed a female beggar by having a palm full of prominent veins. (71)

Hairless, without visible veins, and elevated: the back of the hand is praised.

One should avoid a hand hairy—which is a cause of widowhood—fleshless, and sinewy. (72)

Red, distinct, deep, glossy, complete, and rounded:

such a hand-line of a woman is auspicious according to her destiny. (73)

With a fish [mark] a woman is fortunate; with a svastika she bestows wealth;

with a lotus she is the wife of a king and gives birth to a king as a son. (74)

In the hand of the wife of a universal monarch is a clockwise nandyāvarta;

a conch, a parasol, and an ascetic's cell indicate motherhood of a king. (75)

Two lines shaped like a balance and a weight cause the status of a merchant's wife;

lines shaped like an elephant, a horse, or a bull in the left hand of fawn-eyed women (76)

or resembling a palace or a thunderbolt declare a son who is a tirthankara.

She becomes the wife of a farmer by a cart or a yoke; (77)

by fly-whisks, elephant goads, and bows, she certainly becomes a queen.

If a line starting from the root of the thumb goes to the little finger, (78)

she would kill her husband; a wise man should shun her from afar.

By a line shaped like a trident, a sword, a mace, a spear, or a kettle-drum,

a woman with fine hips becomes renowned for generosity on the earth. (79)

A heron, a jackal, a frog, a wolf, a scorpion, a snake,

a donkey, a camel, or a cat present in the hand bring sorrow to a woman. (4.1.37.80)

A thumb that is straight, rounded, with rounded nails, and soft bestows good fortune. (81)

And fingers that have well-formed joints, are long, rounded, and gradually tapering [are auspicious];

flat, uneven, rough, and having hair on the back are inauspicious. (82)

Excessively short, thin, crooked, and spaced apart cause disease;

fingers endowed with many joints lead to grief for women. (83)

Reddish, with prominent tips, and elevated: such nails of beautiful women are auspicious.

Sunken, discolored, looking like oyster shells, and yellow bestow poverty. (84)

White spots on the nails usually belong to an unchaste woman;

men also become sorrowful through spotted nails. (85)

A back whose backbone is submerged within and is fleshy is auspicious;

by a back endowed with hair, she certainly obtains widowhood. (86)

She is sorrowful also by one that is bent, bowed down, or with prominent veins.

The nape of the neck is best when straight, fleshy, and elevated; (87)

withered, veiny, full of hair, broad, or crooked, it is inauspicious.

A fleshy, round throat of four finger-breadths is praised. (88)

A neck marked with three folds, with hidden bones, and well-knit is praised;

fleshless, flat, long, and uneven does not bestow good fortune. (89)

One with a thick neck becomes a widow, and one with a crooked neck becomes a servant-maid;

one with a doubly flat neck is barren, and one with a short neck is sonless. (4.1.37.90)

A chin of two finger-breadths is praised: round, full, and very tender;

one should reject one that is thick, divided in two, elongated, or hairy. (91)

A jaw joined to the chin, hairless, and very firm is auspicious;

crooked, thick, thin, short, or hairy does not bestow good fortune. (92)

The cheeks of a fair-eyed woman are praised when plump, round, and elevated;

one should avoid those that are hairy, rough, sunken, or fleshless. (93)

An even, fleshy, very glossy, sweet-smelling, and round face,

bearing the likeness of the face of the mother, belongs to fortunate women in this world. (94)

Pale red, round, glossy, with its middle part adorned with a line:

[such a lower lip] of a woman makes her beloved of a king. (95)

Thin, pendulous, cracked, and rough indicates misfortune;

a lower lip that is dark-brown and thick causes widowhood and quarrel. (96)

Smooth and hairless, slightly raised in the middle, the upper lip of a passionate woman bestows fine pleasures; (97)

the contrary produces adverse effects.

Resembling cow's milk, smooth, thirty-two teeth are auspicious;

even below and above, and slightly elevated. (98)

Teeth that are yellow, dark grey, thick, long, or arranged in double rows,

as well as oyster-shell-shaped and widely spaced, are a cause of misery and misfortune.

If she has extra teeth below, she will clearly destroy her mother;

with misshapen [teeth] she becomes husbandless, and with widely spaced ones, an unchaste woman.