Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 79
यत्र सान्निध्यमेतस्य स्तवस्येह भविष्यति । एतास्तु शक्तयः सर्वा सर्वत्र सहिता मया
yatra sānnidhyametasya stavasyeha bhaviṣyati | etāstu śaktayaḥ sarvā sarvatra sahitā mayā
Wo immer in dieser Welt die Gegenwart dieses Hymnus entsteht, dort werden all diese Kräfte sein — überall — mit mir vereint.
Durgā (Devī)
Tirtha: Kāśī (universalized by stotra-sānnidhya)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Implied: gods/devotees; framed for the sage by Skanda
Scene: A luminous, invisible mandala forms around a reciting devotee; multiple śaktis (personified as subtle attendants) gather wherever the hymn is spoken, suggesting a moving sanctuary.
FAQs
Sacred praise is treated as a living conduit of divine presence, not merely words.
Though universal in claim, it is taught in the Kāśī Khaṇḍa, aligning with Kāśī’s theme of ever-present divinity.
Maintaining the stava’s ‘presence’—through recitation, hearing, or keeping it—so Devī’s śaktis abide.