Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 13
नान्य शब्दग्रहौ तस्य जातौ शब्दग्रहावपि । विना मुकुंद गोविंद दामोदर चतुर्भुज
nānya śabdagrahau tasya jātau śabdagrahāvapi | vinā mukuṃda goviṃda dāmodara caturbhuja
അവന്റെ വാക്ക് മറ്റൊരു ശബ്ദവും പിടിക്കുകയില്ല; ‘മുകുന്ദ’, ‘ഗോവിന്ദ’, ‘ദാമോദര’, ‘ചതുര്ഭുജ’ എന്ന നാമങ്ങൾ ഒഴികെ മറ്റൊന്നുമല്ല।
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A devotee walking through Kāśī lanes with prayer beads, lips softly forming the four names; the names appear as luminous syllables around the head, while temple bells and river breeze suggest sacred soundscape.
FAQs
Purify speech by fastening it to divine names; sacred utterance is presented as a direct form of devotion.
Within Kāśīkhaṇḍa, Kāśī forms the devotional landscape where nāma-japa is portrayed as highly meritorious.
A practical vow-like discipline is implied: let one’s speech repeatedly take only the Lord’s names (nāma-japa).