Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 91
कूणिताक्षो गणाध्यक्षस्त्रितुंडादीश दिक्स्थितः । महाश्मशानं सततं पायाद्दुष्टकुदृष्टितः
kūṇitākṣo gaṇādhyakṣastrituṃḍādīśa diksthitaḥ | mahāśmaśānaṃ satataṃ pāyādduṣṭakudṛṣṭitaḥ
Semoga Kūṇitākṣa, pemimpin para Gaṇa, yang bersemayam pada arah yang dipimpin Tritūṇḍa dan para Vināyaka lainnya, senantiasa melindungi Mahāśmaśāna Kāśī dari mata jahat dan pandangan dengki orang durjana.
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Mahāśmaśāna (Kāśī)
Type: ghat
Listener: Ṛṣis/śaunaka-ādi audience (frame) or Kāśī-māhātmya interlocutors (internal)
Scene: A protective Vināyaka (Kūṇitākṣa) stands vigilant at the edge of Kāśī’s great cremation-ground, facing outward to repel the ‘evil eye’; behind him rise funeral pyres, sacred ash, and the glow of liberation, while directional Vināyakas are implied as a mandala around the kṣetra.
FAQs
Kāśī is portrayed as divinely guarded; remembrance of Vināyaka’s protective forms counters malice and negative influences.
The Mahāśmaśāna—the great cremation-ground of Kāśī, a key Śaiva sacred landmark.
No explicit rite is stated; the verse functions as a protective invocation (rakṣā) of Vināyaka.