Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 56
ब्रह्माणि रक्ष सततं नतमौलिदेशं त्वं वैष्णवि प्रतिकुलं परिपालयाधः । रुद्राग्नि नैरृति सदागति दिक्षु पांतु मृत्युंजया त्रिनयना त्रिपुरा त्रिशक्त्यः
brahmāṇi rakṣa satataṃ natamaulideśaṃ tvaṃ vaiṣṇavi pratikulaṃ paripālayādhaḥ | rudrāgni nairṛti sadāgati dikṣu pāṃtu mṛtyuṃjayā trinayanā tripurā triśaktyaḥ
O Brahmāṇī, beschütze stets diese heilige Gegend, in der sich viele Häupter der Verehrer in Demut neigen. O Vaiṣṇavī, wahre von unten vor feindlichen und widrigen Mächten. Mögen Rudrā, Agnī und Nairṛtī—die immerwährenden Hüterinnen der Himmelsrichtungen—von allen Seiten schützen; und mögen Mṛtyuṃjayā, die Dreiäugige Göttin, Tripurā und die drei Śaktis unfehlbaren Schutz verleihen.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (protected kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A protective mandala over Kāśī: Brahmāṇī and Vaiṣṇavī preside, while fierce and luminous Śaktis occupy the directions; Mṛtyuṃjayā and Trinayanā radiate a death-conquering aura, sealing the city from all sides and below.
FAQs
Kāśī is portrayed as a supremely protected sacred realm where devotion (bowed heads) draws the guardianship of Śakti and the directional protectors, teaching reliance on dharmic refuge and divine protection.
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as a whole—presented as a sanctified region guarded in all directions by divine powers rather than a single, named kuṇḍa or ghāṭa in this verse.
No explicit dāna, snāna, or vrata is stated here; the verse functions as a protective remembrance (smaraṇa) and implied japa-style invocation of the guarding deities/śaktis.