Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 55
प्राच्यां मृडानि परिपाहि सदा नतान्नो याम्यामव प्रतिपदं विपदो भवानि । प्रत्यग्दिशि त्रिपुरतापन पत्नि रक्ष त्वं पाह्युदीचि निजभक्तजनान्महेशि
prācyāṃ mṛḍāni paripāhi sadā natānno yāmyāmava pratipadaṃ vipado bhavāni | pratyagdiśi tripuratāpana patni rakṣa tvaṃ pāhyudīci nijabhaktajanānmaheśi
Ô Déesse douce, à l’orient protège-nous sans cesse, nous qui nous inclinons devant Toi. Ô Bhavānī, au midi sauve-nous, pas à pas, des calamités. À l’occident, ô épouse de Tripurātāpana, garde-nous. Et au septentrion aussi, ô Maheśī, protège Tes propres dévots.
Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa context commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Kāśī (as protected mandala)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Devī stands at the center of a sacred mandala, extending protection to the four directions; devotees bow as luminous guardianship spreads east, south, west, and north over Kāśī.
FAQs
Surrender (namana) to Devī and trusting her all-directional guardianship: the devotee seeks protection from dangers in every quarter and at every step.
The verse belongs to the Kāśīkhaṇḍa (Kāśī-kṣetra Māhātmya), situating Devī’s protective power within the sacred geography and salvific aura of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī).
No explicit dāna/snānā/vrata is stated; it functions as a directional protective stuti (prayer) suitable for japa or recitation when entering, residing in, or circumambulating the Kāśī sacred space.