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
Que cette Devī née du lotus—aux ongles sans tache, demeurant dans l’orbe du soleil et dissipant les ténèbres, se mouvant sur la terre sacrée—nous protège : nos doigts et nos mains, nos aisselles, notre poitrine, notre cœur et notre paire d’organes vitaux; elle qui anéantit les forces du mal rôdant dans la nuit.
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.