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Skanda Purana Book 6, Chapter 239, verse 31 (translated by G. V. Tagare) states:

janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ, saṃskārāt dvija ucyate
A man is no better than a Śūdra at his birth. He is called a Brāhmaṇa (Twice-born) due to the consecration.

The above verse states that all men are born Shudra but become Brahmanas by consecration.

On the other hand, Bhagavad Gita 9.32 (translated by Srila Prabhupada) states:

O son of Prtha, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth - women, vaisyas [merchants], as well as sudras [workers]-can approach the supreme destination.

According to the above verse, even those of lower births (i.e. born in sinful wombs - papa-yonayah), enumerated as women, vaisyas and sudras, can also approach the supreme destination. This implies that brahmanas and kshatriyas are of higher birth.

Also from Chandogya Upanishad 5.10.7 (translated by Swami Lokeswarananda):

Among them, those who did good work in this world [in their past life] attain a good birth accordingly. They are born as a brāhmin, a kṣatriya, or a vaiśya. But those who did bad work in this world [in their past life] attain a bad birth accordingly, being born as a dog, a pig, or as a casteless person.

The above verse also supports higher varna by birth.

Is there a contradiction between Skanda Purana, and the other two above? How can we resolve this contradiction?

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Social and personal life

Birth in any of the four varna's is by merit of past life. Detailed article here.

Spiritual life

Through upnayana and other sadhana, one has to keep rising. I interpret Skand purana as warning about "gaining" / "loosing" it by carelessness. Garuna Purana preta kalp mentions punishment of discontinuing janeu.

Also a deep spiritual explanation in this specific Adhyatmik Gita. Here by serving Guru, one rises through shudra, vaysha, kshatriya to Brahman. This is strictly inner rising, nothing to do with social and personal outward behavior.

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  • The Skanda Purana verse is "janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ, saṃskārāt dvija ucyate". Doesn't it mean that one is born a sudrah, but becomes twice-born by consecration?
    – ruben2020
    Commented Aug 21 at 13:10
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    @ruben2020 In a social context, every one is not born a shudra. Four varnas exist by birth, resulting from past birth deeds.
    – Suresh Kumar Shukla
    Commented Aug 22 at 6:13

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