Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 62
गौरि त्वमेव शशिमौलिनि वेधसि त्वं सावित्र्यसि त्वमसि चक्रिणि चारुलक्ष्मीः । काश्यां त्वमस्यमलरूपिणि मोक्षलक्ष्मीस्त्वं मे शरण्यमिह मंगलगौरि मातः
gauri tvameva śaśimaulini vedhasi tvaṃ sāvitryasi tvamasi cakriṇi cārulakṣmīḥ | kāśyāṃ tvamasyamalarūpiṇi mokṣalakṣmīstvaṃ me śaraṇyamiha maṃgalagauri mātaḥ
ಹೇ ಗೌರಿ! ಶಶಿಮೌಳಿ ಶಿವನೊಂದಿಗೆ ನೀನೇ; ವೇಧಸ್ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮನೊಂದಿಗೆ ಕೂಡ ನೀನೇ; ನೀ ಸಾವಿತ್ರಿ; ಚಕ್ರಧಾರಿ ವಿಷ್ಣುವೊಂದಿಗೆ ನೀ ಸುಂದರ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ. ಕಾಶಿಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಹೇ ಅಮಲರೂಪಿಣಿ, ನೀ ಮೋಕ್ಷಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ. ಹೇ ಮಂಗಳಗೌರಿ ಮಾತೆ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೀನೇ ನನ್ನ ಶರಣು।
Devotee/Narrative voice within the stotra (contextual: Maṅgalāgaurī praise)
Tirtha: Kāśī (mokṣa-kṣetra)
Type: kshetra
Scene: Devī Maṅgalāgaurī stands at the center with three surrounding panels: with Śiva (moon-crested), with Brahmā as Sāvitrī, and with Viṣṇu as Lakṣmī; beneath, Kāśī is depicted as a radiant city, and the devotee offers surrender at her feet labeled ‘mokṣa-lakṣmī’.
FAQs
The Goddess is the single śakti behind the Trimūrti and becomes ‘Mokṣa-Lakṣmī’ in Kāśī—hence surrender to her is a direct refuge.
Kāśī (Varanasi), explicitly named as the place where she manifests as the fortune of liberation.
A direct act of śaraṇāgati (taking refuge) and devotional praise; no specific external rite is prescribed in this verse.