Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 51
दुर्लभा सर्वमंत्रेषु गायत्री प्रणवान्विता । न गायत्र्याधिकं किंचित्त्रयीषु परिगीयते
durlabhā sarvamaṃtreṣu gāyatrī praṇavānvitā | na gāyatryādhikaṃ kiṃcittrayīṣu parigīyate
सर्व मंत्रांमध्ये प्रणवयुक्त गायत्री अत्यंत दुर्लभ आहे। त्रयी वेदांत गायत्रीपेक्षा अधिक श्रेष्ठ असे काहीही गाईले जात नाही.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī
Type: kshetra
Listener: dvija (implied audience of Vedic practitioner)
Scene: A radiant syllable Oṃ crowns the Gāyatrī mantra as a luminous garland of syllables; three Vedas personified as sages sing her praise, while a pilgrim in Kāśī performs sandhyā at the river steps.
FAQs
The mantra’s power lies in its Vedic centrality: Gāyatrī, especially with Oṃ, is upheld as the foremost spiritual instrument.
Within the Kāśī-khaṇḍa frame, the praise supports Kāśī’s identity as a city of mantra, Veda, and liberation.
Gāyatrī-japa with Praṇava (Oṃ) is endorsed as the supreme mantra practice.