Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 79
क्षेत्रे तृतीयावरणे क्षेत्ररक्षाकृतः सदा । ये विघ्नराजाः संतीह ते वक्तव्या मयाधुना
kṣetre tṛtīyāvaraṇe kṣetrarakṣākṛtaḥ sadā | ye vighnarājāḥ saṃtīha te vaktavyā mayādhunā
In the sacred field’s third enclosure are those who constantly perform the protection of the kṣetra. The ‘kings of obstacles’ who are present here—I shall now describe them.
Skanda
Tirtha: Tṛtīya-āvaraṇa (Kāśī) – Vighna-rāja guardians
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrimage audience
Scene: A narrator-sage gestures to a diagram of Kāśī’s third enclosure, where formidable yet benevolent ‘vighna-rājas’ stand guard at gateways, holding nooses and sweets, symbolizing controlled obstacles.
FAQs
Even ‘obstacle-lords’ are integrated into Kāśī’s protective dharma: cosmic forces are ordered to guard the sacred field.
Kāśī as kṣetra, specifically its tṛtīya-āvaraṇa (third protective circuit).
None directly; it introduces a forthcoming description of the vighna-rājas who guard the area.