Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 100
गंगाधरांधकरिपो हरनीलकंठ वैकुंठ कैटभरिपो कमठाब्जपाणे । भूतेशखंडपरशोमृडचंडिकेश त्याज्या भटाय इति संततमामनंति
gaṃgādharāṃdhakaripo haranīlakaṃṭha vaikuṃṭha kaiṭabharipo kamaṭhābjapāṇe | bhūteśakhaṃḍaparaśomṛḍacaṃḍikeśa tyājyā bhaṭāya iti saṃtatamāmanaṃti
«Gaṅgādhara, Andhakaripu, Hara, Nīlakaṇṭha ; Vaikuṇṭha, Kaiṭabharipu, Kamaṭha, Abjapāṇi ; Bhūteśa, Khaṇḍaparaśu, Mṛḍa, Caṇḍikeśa» — ainsi déclarent-ils sans relâche : «Laissez-le, ô soldats !»
Skanda (deduced; continuation of the ‘tyājyā bhaṭāya’ refrain)
Tirtha: Kāśī / Gaṅgā (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Brahmin interlocutor (implied)
Scene: A second wave of names is chanted: Śiva as Gaṅgādhara and Nīlakaṇṭha; Viṣṇu as Vaikuṇṭha and Kamaṭha; Yamadūtas recoil as if struck by sonic radiance.
FAQs
The verse extols the salvific power of divine-name devotion, presenting it as a shield beyond sectarian division (Hari-Hara together).
The broader Kāśī Mahātmya setting: Kāśī is celebrated as a place where remembrance of God’s names bears immediate spiritual protection.
Continuous recitation (saṃtatam āmananti) of these names—i.e., nāma-japa—is the implied practice.