Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 60
हस्तांगुलीः कमलजा विरजानखांश्च कक्षांतरं तरणिमंडलगा तमोघ्नी । वक्षःस्थलं स्थलचरी हृदयं धरित्री कुशिद्वयं त्ववतु नः क्षणदाचरघ्नी
hastāṃgulīḥ kamalajā virajānakhāṃśca kakṣāṃtaraṃ taraṇimaṃḍalagā tamoghnī | vakṣaḥsthalaṃ sthalacarī hṛdayaṃ dharitrī kuśidvayaṃ tvavatu naḥ kṣaṇadācaraghnī
May that Devī—lotus-born, whose nails are stainless, who abides in the solar orb and dispels darkness, who moves upon the sacred ground—protect us: our fingers and hands, our armpits, our chest, our heart, and our pair of vital organs; she who destroys the night-roaming forces of evil.
Skanda (deduced, Kāśīkhaṇḍa context: Skanda to Agastya)
Tirtha: Avimukta-Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Scene: Devī as a radiant solar presence: lotus-born with stainless nails, seated within a sun-disc, casting rays that dissolve darkness; simultaneously depicted as moving upon sacred ground, guarding the pilgrim’s hands/fingers, armpits, chest, heart, and vital organs; shadowy night-roamers retreat at the edge of the scene.
FAQs
Seeking refuge in the Kṣetra-Śakti of Kāśī brings protection of body and mind, and the removal of inner and outer darkness (tamas).
Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) as a living kṣetra guarded by Devī—the ground itself is sacred and spiritually protective.
No explicit ritual is prescribed in this verse; it functions as a protective stuti/prārthanā (invocatory prayer) to be recited for safeguarding and warding off harmful forces.