Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 83
विष्णोर्वक्षसि या लक्ष्मीः स्वाहा चैव विभावसोः । स्वधा या पितृमुख्यानां सा धेनुर्वरदा सदा
viṣṇorvakṣasi yā lakṣmīḥ svāhā caiva vibhāvasoḥ | svadhā yā pitṛmukhyānāṃ sā dhenurvaradā sadā
She who is Lakṣmī upon Viṣṇu’s chest, and she who is Svāhā for the Fire-god; she who is Svadhā for the foremost of the ancestors—she is the cow, forever the bestower of boons.
Skanda
Scene: Tripartite symbolism around a cow: Viṣṇu with Lakṣmī at the chest, Agni receiving svāhā, and pitṛs receiving svadhā—three ritual worlds converging into the cow as varadā.
FAQs
The cow is exalted as the unified sacred principle behind prosperity (Lakṣmī), Vedic offering (svāhā), and ancestral rites (svadhā).
The emphasis is theological within Kāśī Khaṇḍa; it supports Kāśī’s dharma-culture of yajña, dāna, and pitṛ-kriyā.
Implicit support for yajña and pitṛ rites: svāhā offerings to Agni and svadhā offerings to pitṛs, alongside honoring the dhenu as their sacred ground.