Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 99
गोविंदमाधवमुकुंद हरेमुरारे शंभो शिवेश शशिशेखर शूलपाणे । दामोदराच्युत जनार्दन वासुदेव त्याज्या भटाय इति संततमामनंति
goviṃdamādhavamukuṃda haremurāre śaṃbho śiveśa śaśiśekhara śūlapāṇe | dāmodarācyuta janārdana vāsudeva tyājyā bhaṭāya iti saṃtatamāmanaṃti
‘ഗോവിന്ദ, മാധവ, മുകുന്ദ, ഹരി, മുരാരി; ശംഭു, ശിവേശ, ശശിശേഖര, ശൂലപാണി; ദാമോദര, അച്യുത, ജനാർദന, വാസുദേവ’—ഇങ്ങനെ നാമോച്ചരിച്ചു അവർ നിരന്തരം പറയുന്നു: ‘ഹേ യമഭടന്മാരേ, ഇവനെ വിട്ടുകളയുക।’
Skanda (deduced; instruction about Yamadūtas in Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: Brahmin interlocutor (implied)
Scene: Yamadūtas approach a devotee, but a radiant aura forms as the devotee chants a garland of names—Govinda, Mādhava, Mukunda… and Śambhu, Śiveśa…—forcing the messengers to halt and withdraw.
FAQs
Constant remembrance of Hari and Hara through their sacred names is portrayed as a powerful refuge that wards off fear and punitive forces.
Within the Kāśīkhaṇḍa frame, the teaching aligns with Kāśī’s liberating power where divine name-remembrance is especially efficacious.
Nāma-japa/constant recitation of divine names (Hari and Śiva) is implied as the practice that grants protection.