Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 97
प्राकारे पंचमे काश्यां द्विचतुष्क विनायकाः । कुर्वंति रक्षां क्षेत्रस्य ये तानत्र ब्रवीम्यहम्
prākāre paṃcame kāśyāṃ dvicatuṣka vināyakāḥ | kurvaṃti rakṣāṃ kṣetrasya ye tānatra bravīmyaham
काशीत प्राकाराच्या पाचव्या परिक्रमेत दोन चतुष्क—असे आठ विनायक आहेत; ते क्षेत्राचे रक्षण करतात, त्यांचेच वर्णन येथे मी करीत आहे।
Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)
Tirtha: Pañcama-prākāra Vināyaka-maṇḍala (Eight Vināyakas)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A schematic-yet-sacred depiction of Kāśī as concentric circuits with eight Vināyakas positioned like sentinels on the fifth ring, protecting the kṣetra.
FAQs
Kāśī is structured as a protected sacred mandala; its holiness is upheld by guardian Vināyakas placed in ordered geography.
Kāśī-kṣetra itself, especially the ‘fifth prākāra’ (fifth encircling circuit).
No direct prescription; it introduces a catalog of guardian Vināyakas for devotional remembrance and pilgrimage mapping.